TRASHCAN SINATRAS: "I Wish You'd Met Her" (Lo-Five Records)
RELEASED? 27th July.
SOUNDS LIKE? Swoonsome pop that's all Trashcan Sinatras, albeit with large side orders of Prefab Sprout.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes it is. This is pop as science with glimpses of the pop passion that made them get together in the first place. If it's about the music, which, with music, it really ought to be, then Trashcan Sinatras should be trashing the room at The Priory that Susan Boyle is due to clean.
WHERE IS IT? www.trashcansinatras.com
ELEKTRALUX: "Missing Out" (Naim Edge)
RELEASED? 3rd August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Very much like the son of Sting and Jamie T electro-popping some vaguely ska-flavoured attitude-toon. Lots of smart-alec lyrics that name check come piss-take the great and the bad.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, it's a ram-raid on decent influences that are cleverly presented. That, my friend, is good pop defined.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/Elektralux
ALLO DARLIN': "Henry Rollins Don't Dance" (Fortuna Pop!)
RELEASED? 3rd August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Wow, it's
like Hefner got a brass
section and got cute too.
So, swoony, south pacific
splashed beach rock it is.
Abba are sampled, irony is
in play and you can dance
to it, shit, I can dance to it,
scary. Unlike the b-sides...
"Dear Stephen Hawking", a
shuffling physics lecture
come relationship
deconstruction that
combines top pop with a brain attack. "Heartbeat Chilli" is proof that the lost Johnny Cash years were spent rumbling around with Viv Stanshall.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's lovely and, if there were any such thing these days, it'd be great if it was a number one smasheroo.
WHERE IS IT? www.elizabethdarling.com
OSWALD: "These Days" (RandR Music)
RELEASED? 13th July.
SOUNDS LIKE? Well, we've all heard the pop-mess confusions that result when bands cheerfully or cynically lob every pop-thing into a mix, eh? Oh buy a Gay Dad record, for goodness sake. Else, otherwise you'll be heaving back your lunch as this stadium-mess confusion laps against your ears, bit like the nastily liquid vomit seeping from a stranger, which is pretty much what they say themselves; "Songs tend to fly around and land on our laps". They do as well.
IS IT ANY GOOD? No. Oswald are a band selected by 'former EMI boss' Eric Nicoli, for some reason or another.
WHERE IS IT? www.official.oswaldtheband.com
DAYWARD: "Stop! Amber! Go!" (Usurp Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Cool and lazily kraut
rocking stuff with "Stop! Amber! Go!", it's
pepped and popped up with snappy synth
bombs, guitar snarls and olde arcade game
style noises, and you know what? The
louder it is, the better it sounds, make it
throb, baby, and they do. There's more, "I
Think I Saw You Today For A Reason" is
one of the few genuinely quirky tracks out
there, which is to say that you can dig the
Ray Davies diddling Rolf Harris vibe and
listen to it more than twice without running
wild with a chainsaw. We kind of thought, or
hoped that "Ice Cream" would be a cover of
the El Spoonio classic, it isn't, though it
uses the same creepy-kid voice sample to end up melting the ice off They Came From The Stars I Saw Them with the eternal cream of The Boy Most Likely To.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's too good for us, so you can fuck right off.
WHERE IS IT? www.usurp-records.com
BRIGADA MERCY: "Recovering Catholic" (3 Minutes Of Madness)
RELEASED? 10th August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Picture an alternative reality, one where The Pogues are Russian. Got it? Good, that's the manica-wonk-imperative of "Recovering Catholic" covered. The flipside, "Roto Chico" requires you to summon a vision of Billy Bragg failing an audition for The Brute Chorus, the lazily brilliant guitar solo wrapped with sweet backing vocals is merely a red herring.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's lovely. We know they're most likely Hoxton Sq whores, asking dipshit pr dollies who they've got to blow next, but this is a cracking single and that's it.
WHERE IS IT? www.3minutesofmadness.com
RELEASED? 27th July.
SOUNDS LIKE? Swoonsome pop that's all Trashcan Sinatras, albeit with large side orders of Prefab Sprout.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes it is. This is pop as science with glimpses of the pop passion that made them get together in the first place. If it's about the music, which, with music, it really ought to be, then Trashcan Sinatras should be trashing the room at The Priory that Susan Boyle is due to clean.
WHERE IS IT? www.trashcansinatras.com
ELEKTRALUX: "Missing Out" (Naim Edge)
RELEASED? 3rd August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Very much like the son of Sting and Jamie T electro-popping some vaguely ska-flavoured attitude-toon. Lots of smart-alec lyrics that name check come piss-take the great and the bad.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, it's a ram-raid on decent influences that are cleverly presented. That, my friend, is good pop defined.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/Elektralux
ALLO DARLIN': "Henry Rollins Don't Dance" (Fortuna Pop!)
RELEASED? 3rd August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Wow, it's
like Hefner got a brass
section and got cute too.
So, swoony, south pacific
splashed beach rock it is.
Abba are sampled, irony is
in play and you can dance
to it, shit, I can dance to it,
scary. Unlike the b-sides...
"Dear Stephen Hawking", a
shuffling physics lecture
come relationship
deconstruction that
combines top pop with a brain attack. "Heartbeat Chilli" is proof that the lost Johnny Cash years were spent rumbling around with Viv Stanshall.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's lovely and, if there were any such thing these days, it'd be great if it was a number one smasheroo.
WHERE IS IT? www.elizabethdarling.com
OSWALD: "These Days" (RandR Music)
RELEASED? 13th July.
SOUNDS LIKE? Well, we've all heard the pop-mess confusions that result when bands cheerfully or cynically lob every pop-thing into a mix, eh? Oh buy a Gay Dad record, for goodness sake. Else, otherwise you'll be heaving back your lunch as this stadium-mess confusion laps against your ears, bit like the nastily liquid vomit seeping from a stranger, which is pretty much what they say themselves; "Songs tend to fly around and land on our laps". They do as well.
IS IT ANY GOOD? No. Oswald are a band selected by 'former EMI boss' Eric Nicoli, for some reason or another.
WHERE IS IT? www.official.oswaldtheband.com
DAYWARD: "Stop! Amber! Go!" (Usurp Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Cool and lazily kraut
rocking stuff with "Stop! Amber! Go!", it's
pepped and popped up with snappy synth
bombs, guitar snarls and olde arcade game
style noises, and you know what? The
louder it is, the better it sounds, make it
throb, baby, and they do. There's more, "I
Think I Saw You Today For A Reason" is
one of the few genuinely quirky tracks out
there, which is to say that you can dig the
Ray Davies diddling Rolf Harris vibe and
listen to it more than twice without running
wild with a chainsaw. We kind of thought, or
hoped that "Ice Cream" would be a cover of
the El Spoonio classic, it isn't, though it
uses the same creepy-kid voice sample to end up melting the ice off They Came From The Stars I Saw Them with the eternal cream of The Boy Most Likely To.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's too good for us, so you can fuck right off.
WHERE IS IT? www.usurp-records.com
BRIGADA MERCY: "Recovering Catholic" (3 Minutes Of Madness)
RELEASED? 10th August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Picture an alternative reality, one where The Pogues are Russian. Got it? Good, that's the manica-wonk-imperative of "Recovering Catholic" covered. The flipside, "Roto Chico" requires you to summon a vision of Billy Bragg failing an audition for The Brute Chorus, the lazily brilliant guitar solo wrapped with sweet backing vocals is merely a red herring.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's lovely. We know they're most likely Hoxton Sq whores, asking dipshit pr dollies who they've got to blow next, but this is a cracking single and that's it.
WHERE IS IT? www.3minutesofmadness.com
PITCHBLEND: "Celsius" (Sugarshack Records)
RELEASED? 17th August
SOUNDS LIKE? Anthemic, goth-rock looking for a stadium to paint black. Female vox are a bonus as we picture Bono with his nuts in a vice. There is, sorry, more fun to be had in the review from Metal Hammer, they were left 'gasping for breath', oh please, do fuck off and take those old Cutting Crew records with you.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Nah, it's far too important to be good.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/pitchblend
AIMEE NEWSOME-STONE "Spacemen & Monsters" (Handmade)
RELEASED? 3rd August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Katie Meluah without Mr
Wombles pulling the strings.It's messy, it's
messed up and indulgent, which is
appropriate as the biog' indicates that Aimee
has been indulged; "We travelled 2000 miles
in 18 days, staying in five star hotels one night
and sleeping on people's floors the next!". I
want to make her repeat that gosh, golly,
spoilt brat playing musician guff in front of
Lemmy, or Green On Red, or anyone who
picked up a guitar more than four years
before heading off on their first tour. Sorry, first tour! No surprise then that these four tracks are sparse, lightweight creations. They'll most likely soundtrack adverts for bio-yoghurts and ensure instant acclaim from people who know better, but choose not to rock the boat.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Let's rock this boat! It's dreadful, Aimee whimpers and whines, the songs are scatter-guff fluff that her helpers have failed to rescue and she'll be 'inspired and empowered' along another creative path as soon as she's bored or stymied on this one.
WHERE IS IT? www.aimeenewsomestone.com
THE TONIK: "Wonderful Then" EP (Greater London Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Jake Shillingford force marched into the unwilling ranks of Crowded House by a producer who is seriously keen on 'treble'. Let's be frank, not both of us, obviously, you sit there mouthing random words like a retarded puppy and I'll be the Frank doing the typing; "Wonderful Then" is an absolute smasheroo single thing, if someone gets to sling a few bass notes in there, "This Summer" is another bass-lite hit sprinting away from the stud farm hosting Haircut 100 and Xtc and so it goes. Four tracks, yes, we only spunked on two of them, the two that are very poppy, clever and catchy and very much in need of remixing.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, could be, you know.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/thetoniksmusic
THE CAPITOL YEARS: "You Can Stay There" (SOE Records)
RELEASED? 13th July.
SOUNDS LIKE? Poppy early Eno
raiding McCartney melody and
McGuinn jangle with equal aplomb.
That the flip, "1,000 Guns" sounds
more than a little like the better stuff
from Meow Meow is a lovely bonus
and added proof that The Capitol
Years are more than the sum of
their parts. Still got daft haircuts
though.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's great, they seemed to arrive fully formed and now they keep getting better. Buy this, twice and then get the new album "Dance Away The Terror".
WHERE IS IT? www.capitolyears.com
FEVER FEVER: "Keys In The Bowl / Stage Shoes" (Cherryade Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Vocals flatter than
the county they come from, but a
butch, busy, catchy, muscled-up pair
of rock-indie blasts. The flip, "Stage
Shoes" is a zillion miles better than
the a-side, being snappy, waspish
and stylishly rock-rammed. Fever
Fever are excellent and we love them
for this alone, of course, if they have
any other records that need pointing
in our direction?
IS IT ANY GOOD? They're hatefully
loveable and sonically superior scamps, or fucking ace. We want ten of these to every one Aimee Newsome-Bore
WHERE IS IT? www.cherryademusic.co.uk
ALEX CORNISH: "My Word What A Mess" (Bellvue Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Ah, bless. Comfortable and swoony pop, obviously Coldplay are to blame, or James Blunt, or the people who buy their records. All very unfortunate because Alex Cornish has a lovely voice and wraps a lyric with the style usually slapped with the 'effortless' label and, we suspect, Alex may have been 'advised' to soften and smooth the material, though interesting hints of, er, interest remain.
IS IT ANY GOOD? We think he's sincere and should be allowed to have an unsupervised run.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/alexcornish
RELEASED? 17th August
SOUNDS LIKE? Anthemic, goth-rock looking for a stadium to paint black. Female vox are a bonus as we picture Bono with his nuts in a vice. There is, sorry, more fun to be had in the review from Metal Hammer, they were left 'gasping for breath', oh please, do fuck off and take those old Cutting Crew records with you.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Nah, it's far too important to be good.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/pitchblend
AIMEE NEWSOME-STONE "Spacemen & Monsters" (Handmade)
RELEASED? 3rd August.
SOUNDS LIKE? Katie Meluah without Mr
Wombles pulling the strings.It's messy, it's
messed up and indulgent, which is
appropriate as the biog' indicates that Aimee
has been indulged; "We travelled 2000 miles
in 18 days, staying in five star hotels one night
and sleeping on people's floors the next!". I
want to make her repeat that gosh, golly,
spoilt brat playing musician guff in front of
Lemmy, or Green On Red, or anyone who
picked up a guitar more than four years
before heading off on their first tour. Sorry, first tour! No surprise then that these four tracks are sparse, lightweight creations. They'll most likely soundtrack adverts for bio-yoghurts and ensure instant acclaim from people who know better, but choose not to rock the boat.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Let's rock this boat! It's dreadful, Aimee whimpers and whines, the songs are scatter-guff fluff that her helpers have failed to rescue and she'll be 'inspired and empowered' along another creative path as soon as she's bored or stymied on this one.
WHERE IS IT? www.aimeenewsomestone.com
THE TONIK: "Wonderful Then" EP (Greater London Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Jake Shillingford force marched into the unwilling ranks of Crowded House by a producer who is seriously keen on 'treble'. Let's be frank, not both of us, obviously, you sit there mouthing random words like a retarded puppy and I'll be the Frank doing the typing; "Wonderful Then" is an absolute smasheroo single thing, if someone gets to sling a few bass notes in there, "This Summer" is another bass-lite hit sprinting away from the stud farm hosting Haircut 100 and Xtc and so it goes. Four tracks, yes, we only spunked on two of them, the two that are very poppy, clever and catchy and very much in need of remixing.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, could be, you know.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/thetoniksmusic
THE CAPITOL YEARS: "You Can Stay There" (SOE Records)
RELEASED? 13th July.
SOUNDS LIKE? Poppy early Eno
raiding McCartney melody and
McGuinn jangle with equal aplomb.
That the flip, "1,000 Guns" sounds
more than a little like the better stuff
from Meow Meow is a lovely bonus
and added proof that The Capitol
Years are more than the sum of
their parts. Still got daft haircuts
though.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's great, they seemed to arrive fully formed and now they keep getting better. Buy this, twice and then get the new album "Dance Away The Terror".
WHERE IS IT? www.capitolyears.com
FEVER FEVER: "Keys In The Bowl / Stage Shoes" (Cherryade Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Vocals flatter than
the county they come from, but a
butch, busy, catchy, muscled-up pair
of rock-indie blasts. The flip, "Stage
Shoes" is a zillion miles better than
the a-side, being snappy, waspish
and stylishly rock-rammed. Fever
Fever are excellent and we love them
for this alone, of course, if they have
any other records that need pointing
in our direction?
IS IT ANY GOOD? They're hatefully
loveable and sonically superior scamps, or fucking ace. We want ten of these to every one Aimee Newsome-Bore
WHERE IS IT? www.cherryademusic.co.uk
ALEX CORNISH: "My Word What A Mess" (Bellvue Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Ah, bless. Comfortable and swoony pop, obviously Coldplay are to blame, or James Blunt, or the people who buy their records. All very unfortunate because Alex Cornish has a lovely voice and wraps a lyric with the style usually slapped with the 'effortless' label and, we suspect, Alex may have been 'advised' to soften and smooth the material, though interesting hints of, er, interest remain.
IS IT ANY GOOD? We think he's sincere and should be allowed to have an unsupervised run.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/alexcornish
Please send samples to
Unpeeled: 8 The Thorn, Guestling Thorn, East Sussex, TN35 4LU
Digital to unpeeled@tiscali.co.uk
Unpeeled: 8 The Thorn, Guestling Thorn, East Sussex, TN35 4LU
Digital to unpeeled@tiscali.co.uk
'SINGLES' typeface from www.davidairey.com
Underground, overground...
And this is a guitar, right?
Yeah,
probably
probably
McCartney, you bust my window, again?
Hey, you ate
my kitten!
my kitten!
JACKO!