Artrocker Magazine’s Single Reviews for the week commencing March 1st

Late Of The Pier
Best In The Class
(Phantasy)

Let's take a quick look at our day to day reality. A massive cloud of dust has seemingly engulfed the planet, blocking off all sunshine until around 2015. An election's just round the corner in which we can either choose a grinning piglet or a haunted photocopy of a man. Over to the news, and the headlines aren't much perkier: Mystical Cat Predicts Nursing Home Deaths, More Than A Fortnight's Rain Due To Fall Today, and Gorgeous Cheryl Cole Reveals She Sometimes Feels "Rubbish" are amongst today's revelations.
Now, let's zip ourselves up in invisible hoodies and pay a visit to Late Of The Pier in their parallel universe. Digital riffs clash against each other like light sabres. Mystical melodies float around in the sky like gravity-defying marshmallows. And artificially intelligent synths communicate with each other in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Ok, I concede it's all sounds a bit mental but, eh... how much did you say a one way ticket was again?
Echoing the spiritual undertones of The KLF, Late of the Pier have crafted a mythology around themselves more successfully than any other group of the last few years, utilising geometrical symbolism, spontaneous happenings and misinformation to pull off the trickiest stunt of all: maintaining mystery.
'Best In The Class' starts off by sending up our aforementioned crap reality with a few teenage peer pressures ("you gotta concentrate / you gotta fall in love / you gotta know what's real"), before a heavenly gate opens, flooding the listener in the audio equivalent of an OM. Then, after a quick garage rock spaz attack, the tape reel flies off its cogs and bursts into flames - ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has now left the building.
Of course I'm buggered if I know what all this means, but Late of the Pier have set themselves up for an imagination-stealing 2010 - and we'll be scribbling in our notebooks every step of the weird old way.
Ric Rawlins



Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Skeletons
(Polydor)

Once you've chopped off all the heads, survived the blitz and declared year zero, where do you go? According to 'Skeletons', the answer is back to your bedroom - for a long, thoughtful night of the soul.
With what's likely to be the final single from our album of 2009, Karen O and the kids are signing off on a graceful and slightly melancholy note: 'Skeletons' feels like the reflective hangover on the morning after the party - and what a party it's been.
Ric Rawlins


Blood Red Shoes
Light It Up
(V2/Co-Op)

Like the hippies, The Vines managed to promise a revolution then screw it all up virtually within the same year - the idiots! Accordingly then, this single from Blood Red Shoes is proof of The Vines legacy: a throwaway chorus followed by grunge powerchords and a command from the anarchist HQ to LIGHT! IT! UP!
You can almost feel your legs buckling under the moshpit of a chorus, and though it's not the best tune on their new album, at least it incites teenagers to blow up everything within a pragmatic radius.
Ric Rawlins


Bombay Bicycle Club
Evening/Morning
(Island Records)

While much of the pre-release attention surrounding ‘Evening/Morning’ has focused on some of the hilarious sportswear which the Bombay Bicycle lads decided to don for the video, (not to mention the rather fetching panda costume), it’s heartening to hear the song’s quality speaking for itself now that it’s getting the increased rotation it deserves.
A pacy, snare-filled intro builds up the suspense, before a meaty bass solo and Jack Steadman’s agitated vocals make their way onto centre stage. When your band can boast a rhythm section this smooth, it’s fair to say that you’re onto a surefire, dead-cert winner. A series of jagged guitar riffs, full of variety and bounce, only serve to add to the superb instrumental mix.
The result of all these ingredients? Some genuinely infectious powerpop groove, which will have you humming and shuffling your way out of this winter of discontent.
Charlie Ashcroft


Teenagersintokyo
Peter Pan
(Back Yard Recordings)

Okay, we’ll say it: we think we’re about done with the 1980s musical revival. Let’s just draw a line under it and say it was a fun ride while it lasted - and we did have fun didn’t we, Teenagersintokyo? We’re just not sure we can do it anymore. It’s not you, it’s us…
Actually, it is a little bit to do with you. You see, ‘Peter Pan’ sounds like someone has placed every musical element from the 80s in a centrifuge, hit ‘spin’ and then poured the contents on to a CD.
Rather than take specific parts of the 80s sound and put a new slant on it, as other artists have, Teenagersintokyo has produced a song which is a little too aware of itself, consciously striving to ‘sound 80s’ when something a little more subtle – and, dare we say it, natural - would surely have sufficed.
Rory Carroll


Jukebox The Ghost
Good Day
(New Music Club)

When Ben Folds ditched his Five, many assumed that the world would stop spinning on its axis. As the planet braced itself for the end - somewhat shocked that the impending apocalypse had absolutely nothing to do with that ‘Jedward’ thing - Ben Thornwell was focusing on finding a way to keep the Ben Folds dream alive.
The obvious answer? Start a band that sounds exactly the same. And so it was: Jukebox The Ghost was born, bringing with it a sack full of piano-pop melodies and catchy, sing-a-long vocal lines.
‘Good Day’ is, as the title suggests, a sunny little number that will chase away those dark clouds and bring a smile to your face. With this single under their belt, the bigger task will be to build on it and prove that they are not simply imitators. If they succeed, they may eventually surpass the artist they so clearly idolise.
Rory Carroll


Cymbals Eat Guitars
Wind Phoenix
(Memphis Industries)

Staten Island four-piece Cymbals Eat Guitars return to the fold with this, the third and final release from their riotous debut album, Why There Are Mountains.
‘Wind Phoenix’ has all the hallmarks of a classic set-closer: a slow, meandering guitar line, some thoroughly spooky atmospherics and a vocal that comes to rest somewhere to between gravelly tones of Mr E and the lazy drawl exhibited by that lad from The Vines.
It’s a change of pace for the band’s usually chaotic nature, which is why it may be said that this particular track makes more sense in an album environment. On the album, it acts as an oasis of calm in a sea of madness; when standing alone, it has to work that little bit harder to grab your attention. However, once it does (and it will), it’s thoroughly enthralling.
Rory Carroll


So So Modern
Dendrons
(Transgressive Records)

Stand to attention laddy! The first single of So So Modern's debut album is so full-throttle and furiously energetic, that you're going to need to be fit to listen to it. Did you hear me lad? Fit! Yes! No more packets of Wotsits for you!
That's right, 'Dendrons' is as focused and fast as a medium-weight prize boxer, smashing its way past hardcore punk, making fruit smoothies out of kraut-rock, snogging the indie-disco on the way home then lighting up a cigar and politely taking questions from the press. The suave bastards.
Ric Rawlins


Mumford & Sons
The Cave
(Gentlemen of the Road)

Mumford and Sons need to learn you can’t get away with mediocre song craft just by wearing waistcoats, introducing a banjo and calling yourselves folk. 'The Cave' pounds steadily along, with all signs pointing promisingly to a crescendo of biblical proportions. Sadly it never quite comes.
What we do get is a pleasant enough gypsy-lite romp with vocals clear, up front and all words properly pronounced (as is the want of the current crop of faux folkies). Indeed, the self-aggrandising lyrics of front man Marcus Mumford offer some recompense for the musical mush they accompany, and embellish the power of the record by some stretch.
Mark Wall


Band of Skulls
I Know What I Am
(You Are Here)

Their Southampton roots long since outgrown, Band of Skulls have been gaining quite a rep for an incendiary live show. And indeed, listening to 'I Know What I Am', it’s not hard to imagine its smooth edges scuffed and skewered with the sweat and adrenalin of a gig.
The call and response refrain between Russell and Emma is reminiscent of The Sugars (but thankfully not as sickly sweet) and ensures that things rattle and roll with the kind of contagious melody usually reserved for playground rhyming.
It’s testament to the group that the song was picked up by iTunes and promoted as a Single of the Week back in 2009, but only the year ahead will prove whether they can capitalise on their considerable achievements.
Mark Wall


Ok Go
This Too Shall Pass
(Hornblow Records/EMI)

Finding yourself to be the most downloaded band of all time means either (a) your fans are moral angels (b) your fans are loaded with cash or (c) your fans simply think you're the best thing of all time, evah!
On this evidence I'm not wholly sold on option (c), but 'This Too Shall Pass' is nonetheless an endearing and summery blend of marching band trumpets, rousing optimism and celebratory fever.
Cindy Suzuki


Efterklang
Modern Drift
(4AD)
'Modern Drift' finds Danish quartet Efterklang marking their first release on new label 4AD with a spring clean of sorts. Gone are the sinister synths and Kid A inspired tape manipulations of old. Instead, we get film score atmospherics and dramatic lilting harmonies, all married excellently to their electronic tendencies.
Sadly, somewhere in the process of this monumental ‘stripping down’ Efterklang have also managed to lose much of what made them interesting to begin with; this single finds them balanced somewhere between the harmless breeze of a Grizzly Bear album track and the passive meandering of indie rock bed wetters. Here’s hoping this is a curve ball and the album retains some of the sonic explorations that endeared them to so many in the first place.
Mark Wall


Paul McCartney
(I Want To) Come Home
(Walt Disney Records)

You can probably guess from the label Walt Disney Recordings that this isn't going to be another skull roasting rock song in the vein of 'Live and Let Die'.
And yet it's hard to drive a steak into the continued recording career of Paul McCartney: sure he's hawking Diet Beatles, but his DNA is so damn embedded in our consciousness that even this forgettable song is reassuring and moving in its own strange way. It's about returning to the bosom of your family. It's got a Harrison style bridge. It's got strings. Resistance is futile. Damn you McCartney!
Ric Rawlins


Esben And The Witch
Lucia, At The Precipice
(Too Pure Singles Club)

‘Lucia At The Precipice’ is EATW’s first single proper since their self released, debut EP ‘33’. That record’s stand out track was the rather special ‘Marching Song’, which told tall tales alongside echo laden percussion, and continued to haunt long after the first listen. ‘Lucia’ employs the same sinister storytelling, but with a trance backing more reminiscent of oddball dance pioneers LFO than the obligatory PJ Harvey, Portishead comparisons they’ve recently attracted.
It’ll be interesting where their next release takes them, but for now, blow out the candle and enjoy.
Mark Wall


Los Camper-rhinos!
Romance Is Boring
(Wichita)

This band have apparently tweeted that we're incapable of spelling their name correctly on our website artrocker.tv. Well, let he who casts the first stone, Los Campe-rhinos. Na na nee na na.
In the meantime, let's check out the title song from their new record. I saw these swines at a festival a few years back and was repelled: "they're like fey thirteen year olds having a tantrum!" I protested while being dragged into their moshpit like an impotent man.
Two years down the line and I concede they are ace. This song is silly and catchy in all the right places - the perfect antidote to the current wave of Nazi electro-cool. You win Campcasinos! - not for the first time, not for the last time.
Ric Rawlins


Girls
Morning Light
(Fantasytrashcan/Turnstile)

If the idea of being cremated alive sounds up your street (and hey - don't dismiss it till you try it) then spending two minutes with the new Girls single should prove fairly satisfying: it's basically a nightmarish trip into audio hellfire, featuring overdriven guitars, bad-trip melodies and wall-of-noise production. Kinda like Video Nasties, but y'know, nastier.
Ric Rawlins


Lunar Youth
Misfits
(Young and Lost)

Unusually ‘Misfits’ goes straight into the chorus making it sound like you’ve put it on halfway through the track, so as a tribute I thought I’d start the review halfway through too.
I quite the song, but there’s an underlying problem – rather than being influenced by the eighties and bands like Roxy Music, The Cars and The Psychedelic Furs, Lunar Youth sound like they are in the eighties - they sound dated.
Mark Cousens


Sir Yes Sir
Not Excited
(Hope Club Records)

Sir Yes Sir channel the nonchalant slacker charm of grunge veterans Dinosaur Junior to good effect here. The melody is buried underneath a half-ton of sludgy guitar noise whilst the lead vocals are drawled unintelligibly over the top.
The whole thing basically smacks of not giving a shit: the title itself, ‘Not Excited’ suggests a lethargic and obtuse stoner housemate who gawps at you from the couch while you tidy up. The tune meanwhile is quite decent - even if its lo-fi aesthetic makes you work hard to get up to speed with it.
The verdict? A bit like Times New Viking only much less likely to clear a room or make your friends and family think you’ve gone mental.
Liam McCreesh


Gyratory System
Yowser Yowser Yowser EP
(Angular Records)

If Andrew Blick (the producer at the helm of Gyratory System) wasn’t making music this good he’d probably have been sectioned by now.
Title track, ‘Yowser Yowser Yowser (Reboot)’ has the unhinged urgency of a placard wielding evangelical maniac charging up and down Oxford Street with only minutes till the apocalypse. Cartoon trumpet blasts are diced up till the whole thing resembles a Mark Ronson tune being mutilated and dismembered in an Itchy and Scatchy cartoon. It really is every bit as mental as that sounds.
Tracks two and three, ‘Unlightenment’ and ‘Herald’ respectively, offer brief respite until things pick up from where they left off with ‘Obscurant’. Horns blast franticly. It’s like a having a panic attack in a traffic jam only infinitely more enjoyable.
Liam McCreesh


Gil Scott-Heron
Me & The Devil
(XL Recordings)

As a precursor for Gil Scott-Heron’s first album of new material in 13 years, ‘Me & The Devil’ sets expectation levels somewhere between sky high and orbiting the moon.
The authoritarian voice of proto-rap classics such as ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ has descended into a feral howl, perfectly capturing the darkest recesses of the original by blues legend Robert Johnson as he intones ÒEarly this mornin’, when you knocked upon my door. And I said ‘Hello Satan, I believe it’s time to go.’Ó
The air of deeply unsettling reverence evoked is mirrored brilliantly by the video which depicts voodoo face-painted skateboarders stalking through city streets by cover of darkness.
Lewis Hingston


French Horn Rebellion Vs Database
Beaches & Friends EP
(Once Upon A Time Records)

Hailing from Wisconsin but currently residing in Brooklyn (musician must be the number one occupation in the area given that about 85% of new bands seem to be from there) French Horn Rebellion make the kind of immaculately polished electro-disco which preens and poses on the shelves in Urban Outfitters. Made in collaboration with Brazilian duo Database, the concept behind the EP is interesting in that its creation didn’t follow the usual routine of original track followed by remixes, it was a collaborative effort at every stage, with no original track as such.
Saying that, comparing their work to Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’ suggests that getting the opening spot on a Kitsune comp might have gone to their heads a little bit, especially when essentially they are starting out in a scene which enjoys continued success but peaked in creative terms a good three years ago.
Lewis Hingston


Detroit Social Club
Kiss The Sun EP
(Fiction)

How DSC’s lead singer David Burn manages to sound like Bono, Richard Ashcroft and Bobby Gillespie all at once is fairly mind-boggling. The fact that he manages to do this and still not sound like an asshole is something pretty special.
Thanks to the open arms feel of opener ‘Kiss The Sun’ the group sadly begin grasping for the ‘epic’ branding a little too early in the day. The track picks up pace nicely, but then gets let down by a sudden diversion into 80s hair rock.
‘Thousand Kings’ suffers a similar grandiose fate, repeating the chorus Òwe are strongÓ to great, unnecessary cymbal crashes and power chords at its conclusion. ‘Black & White’ meanwhile backs itself into a corner with Elbow by virtue of its plodding drums.
While trying to conquer the world with your expansive vision is admirable, it might be a while before this club fulfill that particular masterplan. Emily Kendrick


Citadels
The Chemical Song
(Pure Groove)

Choirs of angels singing from above? Nay, it turns out there are only three members in Citadels, and the song is totally fucking magical. Citadels, I applaud thee. You are EPIC in block capitals. It’s a Willy Wonka acid trip gone right. The verses flow gently like a paper boat drifting down a chocolate river, sailing past an Oompa Loompa funeral procession. The chorus is a bubble gum explosion: "Oh let’s try and kill him with some chemicals" they sing cheerily. Fuck you, Arcade Fire. This is THE Shit. The kind of music that makes your heart literally sing. Mine sings badly, but it’s the taking part that counts, right? Swoon.
Dave Depares


Veronica Falls
Found Love in a Graveyard
(Trouble Records)

I notice that Veronica Falls are playing a gig with Shrag, which instantly makes me sit up and take note. In case this comment is lost on you, allow me to clarify: I think Shrag are awesome, so therefore Veronica Falls must be… awesome too?
Yes, the results are in. They are. Dry, dry vocals echo through this spooky song and yet it’s also rather sweet and lovely. Necrophilia this ain’t. However, there does seem to be some sort of romance going on between the female lead singer and a ghost. Fortunately, this isn’t the sickly kind of ‘ghostly lovin’ that involves Demi Moore making out with Whoopee Goldberg while dabbling in some late night pottery.
Dave Depares


Eugene & The Lizards
Bugjuice
(Domino)

It’s a ‘sit-up-and-take-notice’ moment, as the bloody talented Eugene McGuinness unleashes his all new, expanded sound with the somewhat spooky new single 'Bugjuice'.
From the outset, the song seems instrumentally pitched somewhere between a Halloween B-Movie soundtrack and Favourite Worst Nightmare-era Arctic Monkeys, with a spiky guitar lick invading the listener’s consciousness amid McGuinness’ distinctive vocal line.
It could be said the track tries to pull off too much in too short a space of time, but really it’s hard to criticise McGuinness’ will to experiment. Despite its slight imperfection, ‘Bugjuice’ proves that he’s still one of the most stylistically intriguing songwriters around.
Charlie Ashcroft