Singles for the week starting 12 September!

Mogwai
Earth Division EP
(Rock Action)
* * *

Featuring 5 tracks, the new EP from post-rockers Mogwai kicks off with a pretty but downbeat piano led piece of classical music. Now I know the Scottish quintet have scant regard for convention, but even so this came as something of a surprise, as I’m used to hearing heavy rock instrumentations frequently layered with distortion. In fact the distortion doesn’t appear until third track ‘Drunk and Crazy’, and even then it gives way halfway through to striking violins.
The best track is saved ‘til last though, with ‘Does This Always Happen?’ - another breathtakingly beautiful classical piece, this time featuring strings accompanied by stark piano.
Mark Cousens

Memoryhouse
The Years
(Sub Pop)
* *

‘The Years’ is so velvety soft, floaty and laid back that it’s practically the oral equivalent of a lilo on Valium. Each cut on this five-track EP glides along at such a minimal pace that it’s in danger of stopping altogether.
Scottish dream-pop pioneers Cocteau Twins are an apparent influence here, with ‘The Years’ being characterised by similar reverb-wreathed arrangements and lullaby girl vocals. However, though Memoryhouse are certainly very pleasant on the old ears, none of the songs here come close to matching Cocteau Twins’ knack for the occasional breathtaking melody.
The fact that I have listened to the record about a dozen times and am unable to recall a second of it either proves I’m going senile or that ‘The Years’ seductive ambiance fails to mask a lack of truly great songs.
Mark Murphy

Cymbals Eat Guitars
Keep Me Waiting
(Memphis Industries)
* * * *

This Brooklyn-based quartet received deserved praise for their epic 2009 debut ‘Why There Are Mountains’ and new single ‘Keep Me Waiting’ doesn’t disappoint. Beginning with a howl of feedback, this mixes the frantic wiry urgency of ‘Holy Bible’-era Manics with the hazy, scuffed slacker-rock guitars of Sonic Youth.
‘Keep Me Waiting’ however is far more jubilant and life affirming than that description might imply- with Joseph D’Agostino’s lovably excitable vocal melody displaying barely a drop of angst.
Actually, this is terrific, fist-pounding stuff- just the sort of thing you’d want to hear at a party during its past-midnight peak.
Highly recommended.
Mark Murphy