Singles for the week starting 2 January!

Guided by Voices
Doughnut For A Snowman
(Fire Records)
* * *

For the first few seconds of this track you’d almost imagine you were hearing a pagan ritual in the distance, thanks to a rhythmic recorder. The truth, however, is far stranger than that: one tempo reduction later and Krispy Kremes have replaced the childhood innocence with coma-inducing levels of saccharine story and earnest guitars. While slightly dubious harmonies collide, the interlocking strings really upset everything we thought we could rely on in hearing under two-minutes worth of goofy music.
Emily Kendrick

Theme Park
Milk
(Luv Luv Luv Records)
* * *

In the grandest tradition of disguising melancholy by having a thinly veiled knees up, Theme Park may not be the most unassuming of popsters (see lines like; “We tie our hopes to these lies we tell, tonight, hoping everything’s alright,” uttered so mischievously under the radar that it barely warrants an alteration of the head bobbing). However, they’ve also arrived in the backwash of label-mates Two Door Cinema Club, making their nifty use of instrumental effects all the more palatable. Despite the frontman sounding a tad too close to Johnny Borrel for comfort, it’s a very sure-footed second step on their mission to take over 2012.
Emily Kendrick

Post War Years
All Eyes
(Labour of Love)
* *

Whether PWY cite Kasabian as in influence or not, the tumbling chorus of ‘All Eyes’ seems to channel the sludgy baggy influences of their early-day Leicester elders into a sound that – whilst pleasant enough – never really musters up the gumption to actually go anywhere. On the evidence of this single, the band seems to be happy making for a sound that’s hard to pin down, not because it’s particularly avant garde or bleeding-edge-unique, but because it’s just a little listless.
Dai Howells

La Shark
Magazine Cover
(Popular)
* *

Never ones to actually let a discernable tune wend its way into their songs, La Shark continue the trend with ‘Magazine Cover’; fusing their pseudo reggae beats with a vocal so laughable it should have its own slot at the Royal Variety Show.
Yes, in the age of preened popstars retching out flaccid covers to line Simon Cowell’s pockets, a band that add a good dollop of eccentricity to their songs should be roundly applauded. Provided, that is, they don’t actually let this madness get in the way of the music itself.
La Shark have always embraced their kookiness, but on ‘Magazine Cover’ they appear to have totally succumbed to it, writing a song for silliness sake, as opposed to actually, you know, making music.
Dai Howells