Singles for the week starting 29th October!

I Like Trains
Beacons EP
(I Like Trains Records)
*****
I forgot about I Like Trains. They seem to come and go like seasons. And now they’re back again with a big gnawing EP of autumnal menace. Beacons sneaks up on you like daylight saving. Cold clouds of Kraut synth pounding out a path for a little dark mantra, accelerating into a battle charge of a chorus. They’ve always seemed like Elbow’s troubled younger brothers. Or Editors with beards. This time round they just seem a bit more focused. And throughout this EP there is enough hope slipping and sliding on deafening sonic slabs of black ice to keep you occupied. Strap a light bulb to your head and plug in to this. Winter is coming.
Matt Dyson


Post War Years
The Bell EP
(Chess Club)
****
Not a band to sit back on their laurels, Post War Years are releasing ‘The Bell EP’ - their second EP in a matter of months having released their genre-battering ‘Glass House EP’ sometime in July.
‘The Bell’ features their most succinct sound to date – full of claustrophobic drum smatterings, choral echo’s and electronic arrangements culminating in the words “give us something that we can grab a hold off and wrap our little arms around, we’re listening” – it’s fair to say these Leamington Spa lads have been taking heed of their critics of EP’s past and are growing into an epic post-punk unit to be reckoned with.
Luke Mckenzie


September Girls
Green Eyed
(Soft Power Records)
****
Irish outfit, September Girls, possess an element that is remnant of US contingent Warpaint. Not simply that they’re both of female gender, the Gaelic quintet have a similar prowess in their understated haunting delivery.
Although the vocal is a tad too low-key when it kicks in, 'Green Eyed' is a hole that’s filled with a mass amount of psychedelic distortion and drive, yet becomes contained by the gently piercing recurring riff that lodges itself submissively in the brain.
Jack Wade


Hatcham Social
All Summer Long (Harry Love remix)
(Fierce Panda)
****
Love incorporates an 80’s electro like attack into the London based quartets initial effort, with a recurrent yet simplistic bass line pounding hypnotically and successfully throughout, to the somehow un-manipulated vocal of Toby Kidd, which diverts from angelic indie crooner to Hacienda dancehall.
Jack Wade


The PJP Band
I Am A Racer
(Ouf)
***
After an astounding summer for the Plymouth three piece including an acclaimed Glastonbury set and mainstream DJ acknowledgement spanning Bowman to Lavern, The PJP Band are poised to release their debut single. Anthemic and poppy, I Am A Racer slots the band comfortably in to the British indie-rock scene, making ripples of satisfaction rather than waves of astonishment. What sets the trio apart though is that they’re a keyboard led band with no guitars – and rather than the coma-inducing sound of the likes of Keane they’ve created something unpredictably lively and thumpingly enthused.
Joe Woolmer

Pure Bathing Culture
Pure Bathing Culture EP
(Father/Daughter Records)
***
Sounding akin to a female-fronted version of Ducktails, Pure Bathing Culture’s debut EP is packed full of autumn time-at-dusk choruses. Produced by the ever present Oregon figure of Richard Swift, it’ll come as no great surprise to fans of his work that its full of rich melodies and fresh-coastal vibes.
Sarah Versprille’s reverb-drenched vocals has got the same tone as Laura Veirs and Victoria Legrand’s prophetic lovechild might possess. The standout is the nostalgic ‘Ivory Coast’ which is best complimented with its truly beautifully-shot music video and a dip in your nearest natural springs - a bathtub of Volvic would also suffice.
Luke Mckenzie


Crybaby Special and the Monsters
No Excuses
*****
'No Excuses': the ultimate middle finger to your dead end job. From the yelping snarling frustration to the sincere angelic climax, frontman Jason Stafford has written the epitaph to a previous untenable normal existence in an eye for an eye denunciation of those who ostracized him. The cutting oompah-pah guitar is backed by a bass/drum rhythm section rumbling enough to chart on the Richter scale. The chorus provides moments of clarity amongst all the madness leaving me more excited than Jimmy Saville at the Nick Teen Choice awards.
Bill Williams

The Detachments
Fade EP
(Hacienda Records)
**
Rearing their head for the first time since 2010, The Detachments’ emerge with 'Fade'. The EP is comprised of three tracks. Retro synths, heavily-compressed vocals and simplistic, potent bass-lines make their material an epitome of eighties pastiche, which is aesthetically terrific. The tracks are thematically melancholic and the production is artistically bold, however areas of the song-writing really stop The Detachments from sticking with you. For instance, the lyric: “There’s nothing you can do except accept it’s over, it’s over, don’t you look over your shoulder, shoulder, it’s over…” is just such a frustratingly lazy lyric that this EP would’ve really benefited without.
Oobah Butler