Singles for the week starting 14 November

Factory Floor
Two Different Ways
(DFA Records)
* * * *

Factory Floor usually sound like they're riding head-first through a tornado of demonic drum machines, until the chaos and noise around them becomes unbearable. Their debut single for DFA however, cuts through the chaos like a sharp and steadily controlled knife: the rolling moog-style riffs are present and correct, but there's something clean and direct about 'Two Different Ways' which lends it an accessibility.
DFA's recent history is appropriately echoed in some of the effects - the track at times resembles an obscure Rapture remix - while others will be reminded of the early Factory Records releases, but Factory Floor's rebirth follows their own distinct narrative, right down to Nikki's existential, ice-cool meanderings.
Danny Canning

TWO DIFFERENT WAYS by Factory Floor

The History of Apple Pie
Mallory
(Roundtable Records)
* *

The band name sounds edible, the flame-roasted guitars are fired up, the singer croons like a prom queen and the artwork is poster-worthy. The History Of Apple Pie should be commanding the zeitgeist! Smoking cigars with Castro! And who knows, maybe they are doing just that, but I'm gonna need something catchier before I sign up. Next!
Ric Rawlins

Wild Beasts
Reach a Bit Further

(Domino)
* * * *

On 'Reach a Bit Further,' Hayden Thorpe is in a bruised and remorseful mood. Gone is the lippy, lascivious cad that tickled us on 'Limbo, Panto' and 'Two Dancers,' and in its place we find a humbled man seeking redemption, confessing starkly to his ill-tempered transgressions: “I was angry and brash as a bull/ I was crude... lewd... rude.. .and not in the mood.”
Yet however bullishly he behaved (dare we ask?) it'd be cruel not to forgive him. His purring falsetto is utterly disarming, seconded only by the tender and smoky tenor of Tom Fleming. B-side 'Thankless Thing' is equally delicious and single-worthy, such is its alluring, rarefied ambience.
Jamie Skey

Shuga
Hey Baby
(Luv Luv Luv Records)
* * *

This London trio are playing ouija board with Patti Smith's late '70s vinyls on their debut single, and I'll be damned if it don't work pretty well. 'Hey Baby' is a pleasingly subcultural song; it wreaks of No Wave inspirations, incense sticks and dusty old Allen Ginsburg books. One thing's missing though: the ruby-red poetry, the intoxicating lyricism. In their place is the rhyming of "lazy" with "crazy" and not a great deal else. Shuga! Do not be shy: let us hear your twisted thoughts.
Ric Rawlins

From The Kites of San Quentin
Mitochondria EP
(This City Is Ours Records)
* * * *

Could you have a collection of music that sounds more ‘now’? And that’s not meant in an eye-rolling ‘look at the scenesters’ kind of way. It’s simply meant.
This EP constitutes complex electronica (which is Flying Lotus-esque in places) with haunting android-feline vocals, stuttering beats, stabbing synths – and pop.
There are moments of beauty as well: ‘Tiny Numbers For An abstract Mind’ has an outer space serenity, which feels like a meeting with some entirely pleasant aliens; beings that give you a nice massage after your interstellar trip. And trip you will.
Ed Spencer

Dry The River
Weights & Measures EP
(RCA)
* * *

Well, don't beat about the bush Dry The River - let's get straight down to the epic shall we? I can't stand small talk anyway. This folk-rocking EP dives head first into an enormous emotional build up, which can feel a little odd if you're not expecting it. It's as if a complete stranger has suddenly started gibbering and weeping all over you. It's quite effective though, in a rustic troubadour/Great Depression kind of way. I wonder if this EP was written with a quill?
Ric Rawlins

General Fiasco
Waves EP
(Dirty Hit)
* * *

Professionally pumping indie rock - that actually rocks - here, from Northern Ireland. Considering how great this EP sounds, it's either a weird contradiction or a shame that it's mysteriously devoid of catchy hooks. Nonetheless, there's some admirably manic screeching and sleazy glam guitars on 'The Age You Star Loosing Friends' and the band are clearly a cut above the usual molluscs.
Ric Rawlins

Francobollo
Harpholma EP
(Ear Music Records)
* * *

Hope you’re sitting comfortably and you’ve had your jabs? Yes and yes? Then we shall begin. This is music at its shambling, chaotic and marvelous best, with Francobollo serving up a predominantly Pavement-inspired variety of chaotic grunge.
But for all their discordance, there are tunes here too, and surprises aplenty. From the gritty stomp of opener ‘Future Lover’, the EP is decidedly curious. ‘I Found A Bike Today’ evokes Let’s Wrestle for its lo-fi, quirky take on tales of the norm, replete with crunching guitar, and there’s even room for the bleepy weirdness of ‘I Hope Not’. As I say, curious.
Ed Spencer