Fawning From A Safer Spot

I only heard of York trio Fawn Spots when I heard their side of the split release they did with Scott & Charlene's Wedding last year - and I really liked what I saw. I'm also a massive fan of comedian Stewart Lee, so when I heard him compare them to Husker Du and Guided By Voices, I was in. From Safer Place is their debut record (out through Critical Heights earlier in the year). It’s a funny one. Not funny haha; not even funny peculiar. It’s just that I have had this album since February, and have listened to it a fair bit on and off since that time. It isn’t as melodic as I was anticipating – there is more angular attack and vitriolic caterwauling here that at times comes to be overbearing (even if the album only scraps over the thirty minute mark). It’s that mixture of …Trail of Dead freneticism and Thrice post-hardcore earnestness that walks a fine line for me. In fact it is the latter that From Safe Place most reminds me of – its highs and its lows. But it’s in the melody of the title track, the high-octane energy of ‘I’m Not A Man – I Never Will Be’ that grinds down then marchs forward, all in just over sixty seconds; the atmospheric ‘In Front Of The Chestnut’. The spit-flecked angst here is something I would have gravitated towards ten years ago; and yet here I am, drawn once more to their cathartic flame. I am yet to see these guys live – I think I would become one of the converted masses then.

Ain't No Magic To Dating Dolfinz

I feel a real affinity with the dudes over at Sheffield's Tie Dye Tapes - the thrashy charm that the label's releases have buried within them could light up the electricity grid of many a podunk backwater town. Slowcoaches, Fawn Spots, Bos Angeles, Thee Ludds - all SM faves. The latest EP to take me in and dance me around crazily while necking from a bottle of cheap red is Dolfinz's Pagan Dating. Seven tracks of speaker-cone blasted slacker idiocy and malaise (with a whacked-out beach fade out in 'Back To The Sea'), Pagan Dating isn't so much a set of songs as a state of being - one in a constant state of booze-fuelled flailing of limbs and slack-jawed grins, where everyone is friends with everyone and the world is the best place ever - a split second before throwing up all over the kid you're crushing on. Then when the point hits, it's like Japandroids after drinking a gallon of cement - weighed down and gargling, but their spirit is indefatigable.

You can buy Pagan Dating here.

SCRATCHIN' ROUND - Left and Right, Diving Bells, Fawn Spots

Direction is something that, when brought up, is often claimed to be something I lack. I don't really mind too much. I might be walking around by myself with no idea where I'm heading, but I managed to find these, so it's working out okay so far.

There is something victorious about Left and Right's 93 EP. A kind of world weariness, worn thin but not through; a real coming to terms with things (as long as those terms still mean they can still wail away on their distortion pedals if they see fit). There are some classic '90s sounds here: the production has the crowded sparseness (trust me on this one) of an early Archers of Loaf recording and I especially dig the the way you have to listen for the vocals in 'Coliseum'. They're not buried, just covered by a bit of dust - you have to work for the good stuff, you know. I'm very fucking glad I dug through the inbox for these guys.



You don't often see the words 'Ireland via Korea' arranged in that order. But Diving Bells have made the connection. From the drone of ruddy Irish waters through the repeated patterns of the hand and foot, here that connection makes sense. It pushes and pushes and pushes, piled behind itself in the shell of an abandoned bank headquarters. Ride it to where it takes you.

I found Fawn Spots on someone's couch. I can't help but feel I'm not alone in having done so. When you don't know where your headed, a welcoming couch is nirvana. Like when you probably went a little too far and did things you'd rather not remember (because you don't really feel like breaking down). Wash your face. You might not wanna see yourself but you still need to get up and keep going - even if it is by yourself.



This track's out through Critical Heights on a split 7" with fellow couch veterans Scott and Charlene's Wedding.

Fakin' A Neighbourly Wedding Creates A Storm

I'm pissed off at Craig Dermody. The dude decides to launch his new album Any Port In A Storm in London on Saturday July 6, the night before I will be flying back to Australia. Sure, I could still make it - my fiancee wouldn't be overly happy - but its more the fact that the laconic music Dermody crafts as Scott & Charlene's Wedding makes me want to drink. Usually in a sunny afternoon kinda way too, which doesn't bode well for an 8am flight the next day. I could always postpone it I guess...

Any Port In A Storm (out soon through Fire Records - preorder here) is actually quite an exciting prospect, as these tunes are relatively new - Para Vista Social Club and the Two Weeks EP consist of pretty old tracks, most of which were written before or just after Dermody reached New York. He has been there for a good while now, and his sense of self within the Big Apple, intermingling with further bouts of alienation, pangs of love, the gnashing of teeth over b'ball, and everything other bit of everyday ennui that Dermody dredges up, will come to the fore. Check out the new track 'Fakin' NYC', about scraping by as a doorman at a trendy bar in New York City.

Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Fakin' NYC

If you are in the UK over the next couple months, you can get your fair share of Scott & Charlene's Wedding, seeing as they are playing everywhere, to the big (Glastonbury, some support slots for Mission of Burma) to small (Flashback Records, as well as a yoghurt shop in Brighton - as you do).

 29 June: Glastonbury, UK

30 June: The Garage, London, UK (supporting Mission of Burma)
1 July: The Haunt, Brighton, UK (supporting Mission of Burma)
2 July: Green Door Store, Brighton, London, UK
4 July: Undertone Bar, Cardiff, UK
5 July: Registry, Southsea, UK
6 July: The Victoria, Dalston, London, UK  (Album Launch)
13 July: East End Live Festival, London
7 August: Shipping Forecast, Liverpool, UK
8 August: Tye Die Tapes, Sheffield, UK (with Fawn Spots)
9 August: Heart Attack & Vine, Newcastle, UK (with Fawn Spots)
10 August: Rook & Gaskill, York, UK (with Fawn Spots)
12 August: Adelphi, Hull, UK (with Fawn Spots)
13 August: Wharf Chambers, Leeds, UK
14 August: Arts Center, Colchester, UK
15 August: Hungry Dog, Derby, UK (with Fawn Spots)   
16 August: Yes Way Festival, London, UK 
    
Scott & Charlene's Wedding will also be doing a series of free promotional performances at the following places:

27 June: Sound Knowledge, Marlborough, UK
2 July: Lick Yogurt, Brighton, UK
13 July: Independent Label Market, London UK
10 August: Sound It Out Records, Stockton on Tees, UK
11 August: Urban Outfitters, York, UK
16 August: Flashback Records, London, UK