Artrocker Magazine’s Single Reviews for the week commencing May 24th

Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
Love Turns To Hate
(Black Records)

Back in 2007 TEMBD completed a short tour to promote the release of their last record, the self-released ‘In the Garden’ EP. Shortly after, the band went into a meltdown, culminating in bassist Sym Gharial being sectioned for a month and lead guitarist Rich Fownes fleeing to join Nine Inch Nails.
Happily, over the next couple of years the band picked themselves up (with new management and a new lead guitarist in Tristan McLenahan), cleaned themselves up and got back into the studio.
During this time they scrapped all the songs they had and wrote a bunch of new ones. The ultimate test of this time will be their new album ‘Blood & Fire’ (see the album reviews section for our verdict) but in the meantime, ‘Love Turns To Hate’ sounds like the bastard creation of an unholy alliance between Metallica, The Sisters of Mercy and Queens of the Stone Age.
Not many bands rock quite as hard as TEMBD, and when ‘Love Turns To Hate’ explodes with drums and chants of "Hate! Hate! Hate!" I can feel the adrenaline kicking in. No longer in control, my head begins to nod violently to the rhythm, my heart pumping furiously and, as Guy McKnight’s dark, deep vocals join the party, my neck hairs standing to attention. This is without doubt an aggressive sounding track, but bloody hell it’s good.
Retaining their grip on me, B-side ‘Sushwep’ keeps up the pace with some marching drum beats, sounding a little like a heavier New Model Army. They both kick some serious ass, and I can’t wait to hear the album. Turn on, turn up, ROCK OUT!
Mark Cousens


Liars
The Overachievers
(Mute)

One look at the lyrics is enough to know this song is going to rule. But even before name-dropping Japanther, banging on about bio-cars, cats and walruses, 'The Overachievers' knocks your door down with that sinister beat and shows you why Liars are such a vital force in the contemporary music scene.
Forgive the comparison but it makes me think of the Beatles, what they did with Helter Skelter - come back with a song so full of bite that it shows fellow sonic explorers (and ‘little brother’ bands such as No Age or Abe Vigoda) right up. Not that I’m suggesting that was their intention, or have anything but love for those groups, but it’s just so low slung and slack and wild it can’t help but hurt them just a little. L.A! L.A! L.A!
Mark Wall


Slow Club
Giving Up On Love
(Moshi Moshi)

Hey everyone, summer is on the way! Which means everything is definitely gonna get better. What with the glorious sunshine and reliable weather we're guaranteed by the man on the telly, there's no chance of anything going horribly wrong now, is there?
Of course there is. One second you're blessed with that hint of optimism, next you're remembering that your love life sucks just as much as it did in chilly December. If I've hit a nerve, Slow Club might just have the answer with their new single, 'Giving Up On Love'. Sharp, precise and filled with wrangly guitars and belt-it-out-as-loud-as-you-can vocals, this bundle of lovesick pleasure from Sheffield's most attractive folk duo should be enough to perk anyone up.
Brad Ferguson


Ash
Binary
(Atomic Heart Records)

Ash return... again... with another single from their highly ambitious series of A-Z releases, Binary apparently standing for the letter Q (err, I don't get it?).
It's a continuation of their apparent electro indie-pop desires in yet another quest for radio play, destined to be forgotten by most within a year, vaguely smelling of desperation with an extra sneaky hint of dull.
Going by the old Black Eyed Peas motto that ‘anything that rhymes will do‘, frontman Wheeler does another fine job with his profound and highly effective lyrics, opting to choose any old words that fit as opposed to anything that makes any sort of sense whatsoever; ‘Pornographic infiltration/What's the equation/I don't know?’, closely followed by ‘Persuasion/Stage invasion/Give me love, give me inspiration‘. To be honest, I have no idea what the flip he's going on about, but I'm of the opinion that if your lyrics ever stoop this low, when you're writing songs just to remind people you haven't split up yet, then maybe, just maybe, it's time to call it a day.
Brad Ferguson


Quasi
Bye Bye Blackbird
(Domino)

This single comes in two easy halves: the first half is a spooky dwindle that feels like a spider crawling up your bed, and the second is a crunchy chorus with a Dandy Warhols-style summery catchiness. Somewhere in between lies the corpse of grunge, twitching, contorting, eyes flickering... the creature awakes!
Ric Rawlins


Little Girls
Growing
(Paper Bag Records)

It's all too easy throwing out cliched comparisons to post-punk bands these days (‘Hey look, they sound like Joy Division too!’), so I'm resisting the urge to do it right now in the hope you don't label me a ‘lazy music journalist‘. A tenner says it hasn't worked though.
But with no further mention of the JD word, Little Girls are getting caught up in a world of hazy, distorted dreamscapes with 'Growing', blistering your ears with crumpled feedback and rusty, battered recording techniques. Anything resembling a vocal bears more similarity to a random drunken text sent by someone with fat thumbs - a bunch of distant, totally incoherent babbles that'd be easier to decipher after a week long bender and a brain of mush.
Just be careful when typing 'Little girls growing' into Google, it might stand out in your internet history folder. Someone'll be asking questions.
Brad Ferguson


Moby
Wait For Me
(Little Idiot)

Say what you like about his Mobesome, but he's better at interesting chord progressions than half the muppets we get around here. Having said that, you'd expect more from the title track from his most recent album than this pianos-in-space experiment.
Cindy Suzuki