Seeing Soft Pink

Belfast trio Sea Pinks have always been an interesting band that has thus far failed to fully arrest – to provide that pivotal epiphany moment where time stops, even for the briefest breath of a moment, and everything aligns. Soft Days is almost that moment – it’s an album of sonic subterfuge, that stuns and muddies the water from the get-go. ‘(I Don’t Feel Like) Giving In’ starts with a slow, stark feedback-flecked drone, before opening into a jumped-up tempo 60s monochrome number, both Stones pop and Van Morrison-led Them snarl-lite. It must be noted that Neil Brogan used to be in Girls Names, if only to state that it’s interesting to see two Irish bands from the same gene pool growing in confidence, albeit in a different way. Both send parting glances to bands of yesteryear – but while Girls Names lathers themselves in Joy Division ennui, manicured style and substance excess, Soft Days is all about marrying Flying Nun guitar pop majesty with 70s power pop standard bearers, with the occasional Dando-Richman inflection slipping in the back door (such as in the excellent ‘Cold Reading’). People say it is strange that such buoyant fare should come from such a notoriously wet and “miserable” place – but two things stand in the face of this. Even if you think that opposites often emanate from the wellspring, it’s hard to dissuade me from the idea that such ebullient hooks transcend geography. There are moments of darker rock touches – ‘Down Dog’ and the slight fuzz fadeout of the closing title track – yet while I love noise, it’s just as warm staying in this golden bubble. The last few months have seen a strong push for jangle-centric pop records (Salad Boys, Pete Astor, Nap Eyes), and Soft Days puts Sea Pinks right up in the mix. The record is out through CF Records – get it here.

Zero Reticence To Call Out Girls Names

It's been a while since I had heard from Girls Names - the Northern Irish quartet whose second album The New Life features a killer track, the 8 minute closing title track that was one of my favourites of 2013. They marked their year of intent back in last month when they launched the (already sold out) limited edition EP Zero Triptych. I've included it here so you can hear it - suffice to say it's a stunning atmospheric 80s-tinged post-punk epic that circles the Krautrock wormhole due to that insistent beat and great electronics - I am a massive fan (You can get it on straight black vinyl here). Can you even remember when they were a fuzzy guitar pop outing? A decent one too - they had some great EPs. Oh how things have changed...


Well they aren't resting up, as their third album Arms Around A Vision comes out through Tough Love Records in October. First taste is 'Reticence', leaning further into the gothic shadows than ever before, crafting a track that is both beautiful and barbaric. The opening cacophony echoes the cold harsh sonic climes of Copenhagen and the Iceage collective, before settling into a morose black-mirror image of New Romantic post punk, complete with sweet silken synth, before the last twenty seconds leaves one with a decided hook of discordance. It's a brilliant call of arms from a band that aren't just ever evolving, but are almost militant in their seamless metamorphism. Recorded and produced by electronic wizard Daniel Rejmer (I wrote recently about his Room40 release), Arms Around A Vision has gone from an unknown quantity to feverishly anticipated album of 2015.

Girls Names are playing at ACE Hotel in Shoreditch tomorrow night with the great Shopping in support. 

Brendan's Favourite Songs of 2013

Whilst my other two top 10s will be a bit more definitive, here are TWENTY songs that stuck in my head a lot this year - whether they are the BEST twenty is of contention, even with me. Ah well, let's have at it then...

20. Mogwai - Remurdered

As if a list of songs from me wouldn't feature Mogwai. This song has taken a lot of people by surprise - but this is Mogwai now. And I can deal with it. Very much. This track is just as dark as their transcendent white pulse nightmares of Young Team, just from a different sonic universe.

19. FIDLAR - Cocaine

This isn't the best song from these guys, but they were excellent fun at the dire Splendour In The Grass this year, and Ron Swanson pisses on people. Fin.

18. Crying - Bodega Run

Chiptune guitar pop whimsy? That mosquito buzz at the beginning is painful...but give it a few seconds, and for the live instrumentation to crash on in, and everything makes sense. I'm stuck in a 90s 8bit skateboarding RPG!

17. Violent Soho - Covered In Chrome

I am so proud of these boys and their new album Hungry Ghost. I would have this at the top of every list if I was ten years younger - effervescent, virile grunge rock played at maximum velocity. The fact I still think it's a great album even when I rarely visit these realms anymore is a testament to its success. I've seen them play live four times this year alone and I felt the years melt away every time. And they are the best dudes on the planet. Keep killing it guys!

16. Porches. - Headsgiving

Porches.'s album Slow Dance In The Cosmos makes me wish that the Wolf Parades of the world hadn't gone so quietly into the dark dark night. This isn't slacker territory; just classic cracked intellect guitar rock. I love it.

15. Pale Earth - Coral Skulls


This foray for Benjamin Thompson to step way from the introspections of The Rational Academy continues to sprout myriad legs, and this track of the decidedly left-field Coral Corral release is the culmination of his propensity to push himself to the outer limits of his abilities, and then some. A track that may not be brilliant, but to me is a true testament to a work in progress; a stepping stone into the stratosphere.

14. Batpiss - Loose Screws

Not my favourite track from the trio's debut album Nuclear Winter, but it's a live staple, and this insane clip that accompanies it elevates it to cult status. If you don't feel a rush of blood to the head when listening to Batpiss, you are probably dead. Or at least about to be.

13. Dead - Scratching My Arts

A split with No Anchor is never an easy ask to stand out on, such is their brutal brilliance, but the underdogs of the Australian noise rock scene easily usurp their brethren here. Why isn't everyone championing these guys? With the amount of dark and twisted rock coming out of the bowels of our country, surely it's about time that people sat up and took notice?

12. Girls Names - The New Life

The longest track on the Irish band's new album, and for me the best by far. I really enjoyed the album, but it didn't stick with me as much as this song did.

11. Plant Parenthood - Transit Town

A small band from Knoxville who delivered what was the most listened to song on my playlists this year. Bizarre but true. See if you can ignored the sleepy, deceptive hooks. I can't. Shit, I'm listening to it on repeat again...

10. TEEN - Ambient



A cut from the Brooklyn band's In Limbo recordings. That was a great album of 2012, yet it baffles me how this didn't make the cut, even as a longwinded outro. All cyclical psych, all killer.

9. Per Purpose - Eureka


Probably not the best song Per Purpose put out this year - 'Warburton' was amazing, as is most off their new (and missed out of my year review yesterday) LP Circle The Stains - but every incarnation of the band is present and accounted for in this nine-minute dirge. Caustic brilliance.

8. Double Dagger - Heretic Hymn



The excellent Baltimore punks called it a day last year, then surprised us with a posthumous album, 333, in time for Record Store Day. This is a fitting farewell if I've ever heard one - Nolen's vocals say it all.

7. Pissed Jeans - You're Different In Person

The irascible howlers slayed it once more with new album Honeys, and this is the track that buried its sordid hooks furthest into my soul this year. It's typically dirty, raucous, serrated and blackly funny. You just can't fuck with this.

6. Ides - Prisms

Alanna McArdle might be more recognisable as part of Joanna Gruesome, who brought out a great LP this year. But it's her solo endeavour Ides that moved me most this year, and 'Prisms' really slays me. Every time. I cannot listen to this without getting whispers of the maudlin shakes and the longing that love and the loss of it can bury within you. Hauntingly beautiful.

5. Totem - See Saw Girl

I'm sure most of you won't agree with this one, but this track was played ad nauseum for weeks on Planet Masala. It's like a voodoo mantra, maniacal in its bubblegum hooks disguised as dark motorik. I'm not sure if Totem will ever match the heady heights of this one song, and I'm not sure if I care. This is enough.

4. Lake Mary & Nathan Wheeler - Agrimony (Porch Music)


A lot of great experimental and drone music crossed my desk this year, and there are so many tracks that I return to in my dark den of iniquity that its unfair to focus on one. Yet 'Agrimony (Porch Music)' is one that took me completely by surprise, and I find new pieces of beauty in it with each listen. A great improvisational track, and one I never want to end.

3. Gooch Palms - We Get By

I could have this here for the video alone. I interviewed Leroy from the band earlier in the year for a national magazine and it was a lot of fun. The fact that their LP NOVOs isn't a complete shambles but a combustible ball of playful energy and soulful intent is a further surprise. This track, though - quintessential party music. Well, a party in a grimed-out Queenslander with holes in the shirts and bottomless cans of beer. So, my kind of party then.

2. Pontiak - Innocence



This is a fresh one, but the Carney brothers are in my opinion one of the greatest psych rock bands going round. Why? Because the emphasis is on rock. Every album they have put together is strong, and 'Innocence' intimates that the next one will be a killer as well. All together now...'WAAAAAAAAASTED!'

1. Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener

This is the only song that is solidly in place as numero uno. I have loved this song ever since I first heard it. A woozy guitar track that feels country and slacker at the same time; Barnett's hilarious lyrics about a panic attack are prescient, acerbic and, whilst delivered in a flippant way, are defiant in the way they shape who Barnett is. No pretentions here, just a meteoric talent on the rise.

Tomorrow - my top 7"/10"/EPs...

VIDEO VACUUM - Courtney Barnett, Peak Twins, Forest, Girls Names

It's a breakneck kinda day, one thing piling up on the next. So these excellent music vids should help alleviate the tension, baby...



Sonic Masala's current fave song of the year has just been equipped with its own rad visual, with Courtney Barnett and co clowning around on the clay tennis courts for 'Avant Gardener'. Everything Barnett does at the moment turns to gold - even if there was backlash for her cover of a Yeezus track. Cmon! She appropriated Coon cheese into the lyrics! That's sleight of hand comic genius of the Aussie laconic sort! Anyway, we have the whites, the wooden racquets, the good natured rivalry, the durries at drinks breaks. Golden. Barnett is playing in London, the Notting Hill Arts Club to be exact, tonight. If you're around, check her out - she's on at 8.30pm and will be the best act of the night by far.


Peak Twins - So Long from BSR on Vimeo.

Adelaide's Peak Twins have developed the perfect Blue Velvet-esque slow-dance karaoke tune in a decrepit photo studio film clip committed to celluloid. They are warming up for the eponymous album release through Bedroom Suck, and it promises to exceed expectations as the band subvert genres to their own cursed whims with uniquely salacious results. Great stuff.



Two Aussie bands juxtaposed with two UK acts. Cambridge kids Forest are infusing their jangle slackerdom with ample amounts of scuzzy, blase abandon. Their 'Coaster' vid has the requisite shimmering, slightly out of focus images, the clowning around in a field, and...blase abandon. Just abandon the blase and embrace the fuzz, because Forest dish out in generous helpings. Their freshly-minted EP Caramel Arms should be a good'un. If you value Brit bands because you have NME grafted to your inner thigh, disregard others and give these guys a try - they are genuinely fun.


Finally we have Belfast buddies Girls Names, who have released the almost-nine minute title track of their album The New Life as a single. Good on them, eschewing convention. Truth is, this is my favourite song on the album, perfectly encapsulating the band's emancipation from twee noise pop to a moodier expanse - a similar chrysalis moment that the Horrors encountered a few years ago. This B&W clip is epileptic performance art at its most cloying yet entrancing. Seriously though, the combo of sight and sound is a hypnotic masterstroke.

A New Life With New Girls Names

 

The New Life, the second LP from Belfast's Girls Names, is out today. I liked their debut Dead To Me, and the singles they released before and after always hinted at more - that these Irish kids could take the garage noise-pop that their contemporaries took for granted and embed it into their dreary climes, the northern province of isolation and regret (NOTE - I love Ireland - I've been there three times, and I endeavour to go many more. Historically and geographically, however, the places has copped a bit of a hiding. OK, now I'll continue...)

There has been a noticeable shift from the sunnier moments of previous releases on The New Life, instead opting for a cleaner production coupled with maudlin vocals, drab yet urgent (and often cyclical) instrumentation, and the lingering sense that nothing should, nor is, taken for granted. These tracks are different from past endeavours in many ways - most are in excess of five minutes, barely crack a smile, instead staring you down with a permanent sneer, spitting at your feet. They aren't antagonistic though - they want you to earn their respect. It's an apt title then - this is the equivalent of waking up one morning, discontent, and hitting the reset button.

Hooks are irrelevant (though still in evidence, as 'Occultation' clearly attests); the bass instead becoming the true sonic ringleader, with the jangle or explosion of guitars a counterpoint, an interjection, a pent-up exclamation. And the relentless closing title track, an eight minute behemoth that marches incessantly onwards, as fervently feverish as it is meticulous and slightly off-kilter. Already a favourite track of 2013 (although it technically came out as a single in October last year), it is the dark, forbidden yet oh so sweet icing on this remodelled cake.

  

The New Life found a home on Slumberland Records (the penny drops...) and you can get it here. Pre-order now and you can get it in clear vinyl alongside a rare 12" version of 'The New Life' track. This one will grow on you. And grow. And grow...

Girls Names - The New Life
Girls Names - Occultation

Those Girls Names Are Giving Me Weird Dreams

Here is a great 7" you should all pick up. Out through Slumberland and Tough Love, this split sees one non-album track from both Irish dreamers Girls Names (whose debut record Dead To Me was a fuzzy drifting delight last year) and Weird Dreams. These tracks are like listening to Echo & the Bunnymen covering Nico and Shocking Blue songs in a parallel universe. Weird Dreams' track is especially intoxicating, I cant wait to see what they are progressing towards. A fine little soundbyte. You can grab it here.

No Slumbering On Brilliant Colors

San Francisco’s Brilliant Colors have been doing their thing, stuck in the middle of the sun drenched girl-fronted garage bands that harken back to the 60s. With the amount of bands plumbing the depths of this sound in the past few years, and especially seeing this year has had some take it to new heights, it could be easy to pass them by. Their debut Introducing was OK without being great, yet its in the smaller format that they have made more of a statement, especially with their split release alongside Belfast's brilliant Girls Names.

Now Brilliant Colors hit the studio again to create Again And Again. Ill be frank - I havent been hanging out for it. I do give most releases on Slumberland Records a look in though, so I will do the same here. And whilst 'Value Lines' doesnt blow me away, it is effective at what it does, so that's a win. Ive heard favourable things, and the love that I feel for the likes of Cults, Puro Instinct and Tennis (there are a few more here that have raised the bar considerably too) may wash over to this one. We'll wait and see...

Brilliant Colors - Value Lines

Those Girls' Names Are Not Yet Dead To Me

How time flies. Belfast band Girls Names booked their first name before they'd even played together back in January 2009. Yet here we are, almost 2 and a half years since that infamous date, and the trio have released their debut LP Dead To Me on Slumberland Records. They have definitely been busy before now, with many releases in different sizes and formats, and I have to say I was excited when I finally got my hands on this one.

And trepidatious.

Because as much as I like them, they have always threatened to err on the side of imitation. Supporting the likes of Dum Dum Girls hasn't helped rectify that sense of unease. And its true - Dead To Me does continue to mine the mixture of 60s shimmering beach/surf pop that so many others are wont to do in this day and age, and is most prevalent on tracks such as 'Nothing More To Say' - and somewhat heartfelt, endearing lyrics courteous of singer Neil Brogan, singing down the reverb path with his best Ian Curtis patios in check. And its very good - so likable, musically vibrant, rocks out whilst staying relatively upbeat. Yet its the old adage of "if it aint broke, dont fix it often" enough. The music has been done before in the past, and in the revivalist present, and done well. Dead To Me rivals all of that back catalogue, and surfs the crest of their contemporaries - but there is such a thing as saturation. Unfortunately Im just about at that point. As Ive said, this is still a good album, and Id still love to see them live. Its just gonna have to sit on the backburner for a while, and wait to see if it has the longevity that many of its influences have had. Except for closer 'Seance On A Wet Afternoon' - offering more of the darker trance vibe of Crystal Stilts, if the band had incorporated more of this inflection to give another side of their capabilities we might have had an immediate spinner.

Still as stated, it aint half bad, and with time comes inflection - we might see the palette expanded next time around.


Girls Names - Lawrence
Girls Names - Seance On A Wet Afternoon

Joyous Girls - For A High Five(r)

Two weeks ago we had Guards; last week it was Cults. Dont think that Madame JoJo is gonna let you down this week either - its gonna be a three-peat of White Heat awesomeness as two great acts come to lend a hand for headliners Fiction.

The best news is that No Joy are playing - Ive wanted to see them for a while, and their Ghost Blonde album of last year was fantastic - but the other support slot is filled by Belfast's Girls Names, who keep coming along in leaps and bounds.

Both acts will have big years this year, no doubt about it - No Joy start a UK tour with Surfer Blood tomorrow (coming back on March 8th at Scala), before attacking SXSW, whilst Girls Names will grace the Lexington stage on Friday.

But for a fiver you may as well make yourself useful and be a part of 2011 history, yeah?

No Joy - Hawaii
Girls Names - Seance On A Wet Afternoon

You Should Know By Now About Falling Girls' Names

Belfast's Girls Names did a brill cover of Julee Cruise's 'Falling', the eponymous 'theme' of seminal Lynch TV program Twin Peaks, which you can read about here. Ive been watching a few episodes here and there thanks to the Horror Channel, and loving it. Anyway, I wanted to post about I Win/You Lose, a collaboration with Brilliant Colors (on Slumberland Records) - but as I havent received the 7" yet, Ill refer back to their May release, You Should Know By Now (Tough Love Records). The six song EP showcases the band's twangy head-swaying shimmering pop, infused with 60s doo wop sped up incrementally over time, slight Ennio Morricone instrumentation, droll vocals and the same devil-may-care DIY attitude that fuels other UK acts like Male Bonding. Its short, sharp, a little rough at the edges, and helps to highlight why they have caught the attention of the likes of Captured Tracks and Slumberland.

And so that I can highlight how great the cover is - its here again!!

Girls Names - Blood River

Girls Names - Running Scared

Girls Names - Falling (Julee Cruise/Twin Peaks cover)

Tough Love on Tough Love

I grabbed Tough Love Records' new Sampler Young & Research the other day to see what they are delving into for the latter months of 2010.

Some catchy tracks that gets the toes involuntarily tapping - CYMBALS, Dream Cop, - others have a bit more skill and nous in my opinion, yet aren't necessarily to my taste - Lazy Hurricane, Calories, Young Governor and Weird Dreams - but there were few bands that held any prolonged interest or intrigue. But then I got to the second, dark side of the sampler... There are some very fine acts here, as I knew Tough Love was capable of producing. So I thought that I would just give a one to two sentence review of the Sonic Masala seal-of-approval acts, and then you can go seem em play a venue near you!

Sauna Youth - Punk shoegazey garage outfit from Brighton - a hell of a lot of fun. Have released a cassette and 7", both still available; they smashed up Offset Festival last month; they play the Lamb and Lion on the 8th; remind me of The Bronx, only if Matt Caughthran fronted Shooting At Unarmed Men. Sauna Youth - My Gold's Bangla

Prize Pets - loud Nottingham boys who pillage Black Flag then put it through an incredibly erratic woodchipper. Its weird, loud, visceral, and very exciting - and, for once, they arent from East London. Next London gig - 30/10, Old Blue Last w/ Sex Beet, Cold Pumas, Weird Dreams. http://www.box.net/shared/rotzl8olv7

Girls Names - Belfast group obsessed with Twin Peaks, wined and dined by Captured Tracks, love their reverb, but also very good. Have only just discovered them, and am trying to grab their EP from earlier this year as we speak, as well as tape split with Heavy Hawaii. Play two gigs this month at The Drop, including one with previous postee and UTR kids Peepholes as well as Weird Dreams. Girls Names - Falling (Julee Cruise cover - live)

Sea Pinks - solo project of Girls Names' Neil. His single is a sped up and colourfast version of his day band, and involves horticultural references, making it ok to know your hyacinths from your hydrangeas. Sea Pinks - Bobby Beau

Bhurgeist - Yorkshiremen who warble their way into your heart underscored by some J Mascis noodling and slight scowls on their faces - probably because they still live at home and have to deal with Nick Clegg. Hey, Im feeling the rage too. Disgruntled kin to Spectrals.

Bhurgeist - Slobro

Yellow Ostrich - New Yawker Alex Schaaf (also fronts band The Chairs) goes on his own; fairly prolific; makes unique indie pop folk tunes that intrigue as much as they entice.

Yellow Ostrich - Mary Ann

Drew Price's Bermuda Triangle - weird drawn out psych tripped shimmer from American Drew Price, who in this track sounds like Damon Albarn, in a decidedly good way. Drifts along in a haze, leaves you with the munchies. Drew Price's Bermuda Triangle - Tiny And All Alone