Disorderly, frenetic and bone rattling, She Crazy are a cacophony of the best beer-in-the-air songs and ‘did I do that last night?’ moments that any band could wish for. Like being strapped in the dentist chair with Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist from The Hives controlling your valium intake, the first single from the debut She Crazy EP is everything you wanted from the band and more. ‘Zompocalypyse Now’ has all the caustic and abrasive grit that Death From Above 1979 pride themselves on, elevated by the sort of killer chorus Rival Schools would bite your hand off for. It’s undoubtedly infectious and backed with one of the best videos I've seen this year. You can easily picture She Crazy leaving the Festival Republic tent at Reading next summer, with sweat dripping from the rafters and Tuborg soaking the crowd’s hair.
So if you’re thinking of staying in and watching The Walking Dead in your pants or taking on the world with 28 Days Later tonight, you might be better off heading down The Hope in Brighton for the best Halloween party around. Advance warning, though, there's a risk you’ll wake up feeling a little bit hairy in the morning.
Zombacalypse Now is out now
See She Crazy Live:
Fri Oct 31 – The Hope, Brighton
Fri Nov 7– The Garage, Islington
Follow @Alister_88 on Twitter
Watch/Listen/Review: Saint Agnes – A Beautiful Day For Murder/Where The Lightning Strikes
The first glimpse that Saint Agnes let you have of their world is silver-screened, amatory and undeniably cinematic. The band's second single, ‘A Beautiful Day for Murder’, will leave you numb yet euphoric, a formula that some bands take a career to find. The single could be the perfect berceuse to a Tarantino film or Bond epic, melded by the chemistry between songwriters Jon Tufnell and Kitty Austen, who clearly have a magnetism that would leave Sonny & Cher green with envy. The brooding and sultry aura of 'A Beautiful Day For Murder' enchants you into a dreamlike state, as if you've just been anaesthetised in the dentist cart from Django Unchained. Bewitching and seductive, Saint Agnes have produced the perfect chimera for blues-rock and pysch fans alike.
Kitty exudes the chic and 'hang you from the heavens' heel-on-your-throat delivery of Alison Mosshart (The Kills, The Dead Weather) on B-side 'Where The Lightning Strikes' (watch below). It’s invigorating and inspirational enough to have been the soundtrack to Nikola Tesla's working day – embedded with a hammer and tongs riff that The Jim Jones Revue or early BRMC would be proud of. Saint Agnes will undoubtedly enrapture listeners to the extent that they’ll want a repeat prescription for 2015.
A Beautiful Day For Murder is out now on Energy Snake Records
Words By Ali Whaite: Follow @Alister_88 on Twitter
Watch / Review: Kormac feat. Irvine Welsh - Another Screen
Cast aside the obvious ironies of a digital producer’s luddite cry being disseminated via YouTube on hundreds of blogs, and just relish this smart tribute to non-tech, to the joys of interaction and more humanising pursuits. Irvine Welsh guests on Dublin-based DJ Kormac’s latest release from the album ‘Doorsteps’, administering a softly spoken-word rebuke to time spent staring at the sort of medium you’re staring at right now. “Don’t Give Me Another Screen”, Welsh insists, “I Don’t Need An iPad To Make Me Dream” underneath an appropriately homely picked-string loop, slowly expanding by way of a cymbal-heavy drum swing and layers of horns and vintage samples.
The video is in step with the sentiment too, as a pair of amiable protagonists find liberation in broken gear and back-to-nature. Obviously we’re not suggesting you smash up your computerised kit without any alternative means of accessing Lost In The Manor, but that doesn’t stop ‘Another Screen’ from being a witty, on-point reminder to live in the moment, a future-folk exaltation of all things flesh and blood.
Doorsteps is out now on Bodytonic Records
Words by Nick Mee: Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter
Watch/Review: Deers – Castigadas en el Granero
Their fuzzed-up DIY garage-pop is the talk of every East London bar, and the NME is calling them Europe's most exciting new band. Madrid four-piece Deers are the spunky, hedonistic girl group every woman dreamed of being in back when they were a kid and 'girl power' was the mantra. Most bands who appear to explode on to the music blogosphere overnight actually turn out to have been touring and releasing tracks under the radar for years, but that isn't true for Deers. They say they uploaded two tracks on to Soundcloud one night and then started receiving emails, and it's totally clear why it happened so quickly when you listen to their songs.
Their latest release, 'Castigadas en el Granero’, from the 7" limited-edition debut ‘Barn', is a scuzzy, sugarcoated, reverbed guitar spree. The lo-fi production and accompanying video all ooze a carefree, punk attitude. In typical Deers style, the video is deliberately DIY – get ready for Powerpoint-style editing complete with star-wipe transitions as the girls perform against a spray-painted backdrop. If you wanted to drown in the bubblegum surf of Alvvays, Best Coast and Splashh, a love affair with Deers is imminent.
Barn is out on Lucky Number on 3 November
Read more of Holly Warren’s work here
Introducing / Watch: Kinkajous – Limb (get tickets for them live)
How could I not post this video after watching? Totally refreshing and the perfect start to my morning...
Kinkajous have a couple of shows in the pipeline which you can see below.
18th Oct - The Sebright Arms - Get Tickets
9th Dec, with Nugget - The Finsbury (Lost in the Manor show) - Get Tickets
Watch / Review: Emperor Yes - Paramesse To Tannis
Driven by unrelenting synth lines and soaring vocals, Emperor Yes are truly a band who will take you to another place very far from reality, and you’ll find it tough not to dance around your bedroom alone while this is playing. Picture this: Passion Pit actually developed a more danceable groove, took a gram of mushrooms, and shot off into outer space.
From the album ‘An Island Called Earth’, single ’Paramesse to Tannis’ displays the band’s strengths well – mind-altering synth arpeggios, addictive indie-rock drumming, otherworldly lyrics and reverb-soaked vocals. Emperor Yes do a stellar job of incorporating elements of other genres, so we’re not left with a bland pile of synth-pop mashed potatoes. In the hook/chorus alone, we hear little flavours of The Flaming Lips, MGMT, Phoenix, and plenty more. The inclusion of these other influences is the keystone that will mark Emperor Yes as unique, and help them build a crossover fan base. And then there’s the rest of the album…
For fans of: MGMT, Passion Pit, The Flaming Lips, Phoenix
Emperor Yes are playing the following London dates: Nov 1st St Pancras Old Church; Nov 11th The Old Blue Last; Dec 11th The Finsbury
‘An Island Called Earth’ is out now on Alcopop! Records
Words by Mike Guerard: Follow @Mike_Guerard on Twitter
Watch: Xinobi - Mom and Dad
Though accompanied here by a vague conceptual promo (she needs to work on that golf swing), this sonically clinical offering would be best appreciated on a high-end hi-fi, or potent club soundsystem. You’ll get your chance when Portuguese producer Xinobi releases his ‘1975’ album on his own Discotexas label later in the year. Meanwhile, this taster, ‘Mom and Dad’, is all refined space and reverb, a dubbed-up ambient outpouring of electro-pop comprising Duane Eddy-style guitar twang and a crisp bass groove traversing an insistent kick-drum. The plaintive vocal by Margarida Encarnação adds a touch of Iberian seduction to what is a finely crafted studio piece.
Mom and Dad is out now on Discotexas
Words by Nick Mee: Follow @nickjmee on Twitter
Watch: Sinkane - How We Be
The solo project of Ahmed Gallab, Sinkane continues to build on the hype of his new album ‘Mean Love’. We are delighted to share Sinkane's video for 'How We Be', directed by Nick Bentgen.
‘How We Be’ is a gorgeous ode to New York and a love letter to summer as it explores various neighborhoods through dance. It’s a beautiful visual representation of Sinkane's fluid, worldly sound as it mixes step, ballet, breakdancing and more. Buzzfeed introduced it by saying: "Ahmed Gallab is known for blending African beats, funk and soul into joyously kinetic concoctions. His new video for effervescent single 'How We Be' celebrates those moments when everything is going your way, the sun is shining and you just want to move."
Sinkane plays Oslo in Hackney on Oct 1st - Get Tickets
Watch: The Incredible Magpie Band - This Chose Me
They may have first attracted attention as a trigger for Liam Gallagher to have yet another dig at his older brother (“There’s only one high-flying bird and that’s The Incredible Magpie Band”) but this Wakefield five-piece certainly have an easy swagger and ear for a hook that would appeal to those who yearn for the cocksure retro clarity of early Oasis. ‘This Chose Me’, one half of their double-A-sided debut, is a gratifying stomp of northern beat-group skiffle, accompanied by a video centred on a duplicitous evangelist figure. A band to keep your beady eye on, you might conclude.
This Chose Me/Money is out now
Words by Nick Mee: Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter
Watch: Happyness - Anything I Do Is All Right
Watch: The Ghost Wolves – Baby Fang Thang
The Ghost Wolves are doing it right – simplicity is key. While other garage-rock bands muddle their already lo-fi sound with excessive instrumentation, keys and overdubs, The Ghost Wolves are about at stripped-down as it gets. This two-piece feature tasty blues-rock licks and tight drum tracks, à la ‘Icky Thump’-era White Stripes. The kicker: female lead vocals and guitars from Carley Wolf. We’ve entered Bizarro World, folks.
‘Baby Fang Thang’ features catchy sing-song vocals, along with some tough and fuzzy stomp grooves. Carley rips a short bridge solo, showcasing some serious axe chops in the style of Jack White. Jonathan Wolf channels his inner John Bonham, beating the skins with some distinctly Bonham-esque patterns. This is most prominent during the outro, where the duo delve into a Led Zeppelin-fuelled coda, even featuring some psych-rock influenced vocals. Taken from the band’s debut album, ‘Man, Woman, Beast’, this is a killer track for anyone after simple, hard-hitting rock music.
For fans of: The White Stripes, Hanni El Khatib, Led Zeppelin
‘Man, Woman, Beast’ is out now on Plowboy Records
Words Mike Guerard: Follow Mike_Guerard on Twitter
Watch / Review: Mountainear - Distant Camps
‘Distant Camps’ begins in a simple, slow tempo led by the crisp, clean vocals of Becky Brown against a haunting piano melody. You might be forgiven for thinking this is going to be anything but the sound of the twinkliest dream pop you have ever heard, until, about a minute in, you are whipped into a ‘wait, what…’ feeling as the beat slaps against your eardrums. And as the fires burn, a sense of refreshing enthusiasm is injected into the track, driven by deep, raw African beats and an almost choired set of backing vocals. ‘Distant Camps’ is a heady, hearty, multi-layered, enriching blend of inspiration and an invigorating sound for the ages. All three members of Mountainear are professional percussionists and, suffice to say, their rhythmic subtlety and agility have been captured beautifully on this track.
Distant Camps is out now.
Words by Kai Reddy: Follow @flyinglotus49 on Twitter
Caught Live / Photos: Acolletive @ Birthdays, Dalston
After featuring Acollective a few weeks back on Lost in the Manor we were so excited to see them live. The live video speaks for itself and backs up the hype. Enjoy Acollective..
Review / Watch: The Moons – Mindwaves
Fading in with a psychedelic introduction before kicking off with ‘Society’, an upbeat rock’n’roller with an angular riff, tight harmonies and a Beatles-esque groove, The Moons’ new album, ‘Mindwaves’, littered with brilliant licks and psychedelic lyrics, gets off to a strong start. Standout track, ‘Fever’, best encapsulates the group’s kaleidoscopic Sixties-inspired sound. The album drops in tempo on ‘All In My Mind’ but gets back up to speed with ‘Time’s Not Forever’ and carries on in a similar vein until the climax; nice touches like the use of brass on several of the slower songs keep things fresh throughout.
Vocals wise, Andy Croft’s style is often reminiscent of fellow Midlands band The Enemy, although comparing the two acts musically would be doing a disservice to The Moons, who have an ear for far more exciting and original sounds. Ironically, The Moons will get the chance to eclipse their Coventry-based neighbours when they support them on the Northampton date of their tour, on 27 September.
The video for the four-piece’s most recent single, ‘Body Snatchers’ (listen below), makes it clear why their keen riffs and retro appeal evoke the likes of Miles Kane and Paul Weller, with sharp haircuts and vintage style galore. It’s not surprising that The Moons have received acclaim from the Modfather himself, as they seem set to carry on the modish rock lineage from acts such as Weller and The Kinks on to current high flyers Kasabian, such is their retro take on modern life, particularly evident on songs such as ‘Society’ and ‘All In My Mind’.
Mindwaves is out on 21 July on Schnitzel Records.
Words Adam Pizey: Follow @A_Pizey On Twitter
Watch & Review: Batsch - Celina
Though not without its abstract moments, notably the whimsical breakdown, ‘Celina’ is an obvious call as the leading track from Batsch’s skittish new EP, ‘Collar’, being as close to conventional pop as the band care to venture. Atop a slippery, octave-jumping bassline wriggling in a lo-fi web of art-school funk and pale high-life, singer Mason Le Long’s temperate vocal gives the groove its grip. His “Be gentle as you can be” refrain is apt, as there can’t be many aspiring floor-fillers that sound so polite. Quirky, cool and a little detached, ‘Celina’ belongs in the club, but as more of a glassy reflection of proceedings in the glitterball than hip-grinding on the dancefloor itself.
Elsewhere on the EP, ’22’ is built around Joe Carvell’s gravelly baseline set just awry of a sparse beat, some shrill synth from Andy Whitehead and Le Long’s musings on love gone stale. It’s enjoyably skeletal, lightweight dub, as if Mad Professor set to work on Haircut 100. That percussive bass leads the way again on the darker ‘Did You Here About Argine’, while ‘Mirrorball’ is so pared-down it even dispenses with the trademark bass before its discordant crescendo. EP closer ‘Can’t Tell’ is perhaps the most demented, as each band member packs plenty to the bar, but in such a frantic and featherlight manner it’s like listening to a marching piece for mice. It’s music that tickles. There’s knowledge to Batsch’s experimental mania on ‘Collar’, delivering some fine passages of sound, if no real knockout tunes. Yet the tracks unfold entirely unpredictably, and for that this Midlands four-piece deserve a big hand. Cue the video…
Collar is out now on Tin Angel
Words Nick Mee: Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter
Watch: Traams - Selma
One of the summer’s hotly anticipated releases is Traams’ new EP, ‘Cissa’. After an abrasive tour across Europe with indie heroes Wire, Traams made their mark on SxSW and gathered a global fan base thanks to a mix of art-rock that would make Stephen Malkmus’ hairdresser happy for eternity. One of the flagship acts on Brighton-based FatCat records, the band are a true reflection of the restlessness that defines growing up in a small town – never satisfied or content, just trying to drive past the Little Chef on the A27 outside of their Chichester home, never to return.
‘Selma’, the first offering from ‘Cissa', is a succinct, hook-laden 2.20 track featuring the signature askew, off-kilter guitar work that will make the trio’s fans salivate. Having previously worked with producers Rory Attwell (Yuck, Male Bonding) & MJ of Hookworms, the group are currently at the cutting-edge of angular alternative music. Expect this EP to be full of short, instant and contagious songs that will complement the soundtrack to your summer. Check them out live at their EP launch at Bleach (Brighton's hottest sweatbox) on July 12th or at Beacons festival in August.
Cissa is out on July 14 on FatCat Records.
Follow @Alister_88 on Twitter
Watch: Wunder Wunder - Coastline
The days when the pop-cultural output of Australia could be charted in 25-minute segments of preposterous teatime soap have long been dunked into the billabong by such inventive and untethered rock acts as Courtney Barnett, Tame Impala and Jagwar Ma. The latest technicolour troubadours to bubble up from down under are Wunder Wunder, whose debut album, ‘Everything Infinite’, arrives on these shores on 14 July. Their taster single, ‘Coastline’, is a shot of sonic serotonin if ever there was, a psychedelic summertime high founded on a burst of shimmering guitar accessorised with oscillating synths. The beat is classic soul, the lyrics are submerged among the many reverbed layers, and the vibe lies closer to the West Coast than Highway 101 itself, but ‘Coastline’ is a feelgood composite that marks this Melbourne outfit as worthy contributors to the fertile Aussie canon. Even Mrs Mangel would be getting her groove on.
Everything Infinite is out on Dovecote on 14 July.
Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter
Watch: The Kemistry - Losing It
Londoner's The Kemistry are back in again in fine form with 2 videos for their latest track called 'Losing it'
‘Losing It’, a tale of an unidentified supernatural saviour, is a self-made double audio video release. The video produced by Typeone and The Kemistry is a visual exploration on the inner workings of the ID, featuring some perspective warping visual effects and a pretty serious projection mapped afro. B side, the Bare Beats Alt Dub mix, features an animation only revisit to the original Loosing It video and is possibly even more mesmerizing.
Watch: Terminal Gods - Cold Life
The first time I witnessed the divine intervention of Terminal Gods was at The Bull & Gate a couple of years ago, supporting LA rockers Queen Kwong. Looking like a crack commando team from the Eighties who were on the run after raiding Depeche Mode’s wardrobe, the band have since toured Europe, set up their own promotions company and even released their own comic book. Evidence that they’re now more active and productive than ever, new single ‘Cold Life’ is released on July 14th on Heavy Leather Records, a label established by the band themselves. Available on cassette, the track exudes a wraithlike, ethereal sound that would satisfy fans of The Cult or even the Stooges, with a bar-stool singalong chorus and scuzzy, driven guitars that enhance what the four-piece do best: abrasive singles with pop sensibilities. Determined to take their sound to the masses, Terminal Gods will be going hell for leather, touring the UK to promote the single in July. This group's hands on, DIY attitude deserves respect. Catch them at:
17/07 - Bannerman’s Cowgate (w/ Dressmaker) EDINBURGH 18/07 - Wharf Chambers (w/ Dressmaker) LEEDS 19/07 - The Giffard Arms (w/ Dressmaker) WOLVERHAMPTON 25/07 - Buffalo Bar (w/ Dressmaker) LONDON
Cold Life is out on 14 July Heavy Leather Records
Follow @Alister_88 on Twitter
Watch: Acollective - Happiest of All Memorial Days
Arcollective share their debut animated video which is a masterpiece. To read on how the band have come to be check out their story below. Arcollective will play London on July 14th @ Birthdays and July 20th @ Brixton Windmill.
Acollective grew up making music together. In their teenage years, the story started in the way that many others do – with kids making a racket in their parents’ basement. It was an open forum to vent frustration. With no real intention of ever being a full time band, in truth only ever really aspiring to exist as a community of musicians, Acollective’s formative years were spent playing not in gig venues (who books a band that doesn’t have any songs?) but springing up at their own guerilla shows on the streets on their hometown, Tel-Aviv. Crowds started forming, more and more gatherings took place and, with a hook-up in the UK, the band’s first ever real tour was put together. In the confines of a London flat, the songs that would later become their debut album (2011’s ‘Onwards’) were penned and fine-tuned. After an unfortunate deportation saga, the band returned to Israel renewed, and full of purpose, ready to commit all they had learned to tape.
Onwards was released in 2011, produced by Chris Shaw, and cemented them as a band to believe in back in Israel – no small task, particularly for an indie band singing in English. Sold out tours around the country beckoned and it wasn’t long before they were playing international shows and festivals, at the likes of Glastonbury, YNOT, and SXSW.
Acollective will readily admit that the transition from basement dwelling art project to international performers, was
a little chaotic. They were their own label, their own management, press and booking agency, and it took time for the dust to settle, and for them to find their feet in making Onwards’ follow-up. Their experiences across the world had exposed them to plethora of differing cultures that they felt all needed documenting in some form.
So, surrounded by “a million different beeping things” the troupe locked themselves away in an old shoe factory and recorded what is now called Pangaea. In spite of all of the album’s intricacies, a priority for the band was to maintain the essence of their environment so everything was recorded live. The mere mention of influences is enough to spark bloody violence within the band. Ask them who they listen to and they’ll tell you Sufjan Stevens, Beck, Paul Simon and Radiohead. Delve a little deeper and you’ll learn about their love of everything from Dixie Jazz, Japanese Pop and old-school hip-hop to modern-Arab-kitsch. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has meant that Pangaea has become, at its core, quite an unstable album – in keeping with the band’s own unstable creative process. But let it not be said that it isn’t cohesive. As the band’s leader, Idan Rabinovici cryptically offers; “You must keep dancing even if the ground around you is shaking, safe in the belief that things must break apart and shatter in order to reconnect again.” Going on to talk about the album’s lead single ‘OTM’, he says; “It’s a celebration of being left behind, of being insulated from the outside world but deeply affected at the same time - in a state of perpetual limbo. Nothing is more dangerous than staying put, and nothing is more heartbreaking than running away.”
It’s a statement like that, that sets the tone of the album. Pangaea is worldly and wonky, caustic and cohesive, mellow and marauding in equal measure. Acollective could be one of 2014’s most interesting propositions.