Double Dogged

It feels like ages, but warped London trio Wetdog have finally followed up their Frauhaus! album of 2009 with new LP Divine Times (out through Upset The Rhythm)...and its as eclectic, frenetic and kinetic as you could possibly expect. Fourteen tracks of sudden scuzz, tetchy tension, garish gurning and arrhythmic rhythms - they wear their Raincoats more snugly this time around. There are delicious detours - the erred esoterics of 'Ridgway Crash', the ska-lite swing and ebullient nature of 'Jym Fingers' or the hushed choral contemplation of 'Twilite' - but they are at their best when they ratchet up the tension with post-punk stop-start atmospherics, before bursting the bubble with kaleidoscopic abandon. I've always seen Wetdog as the warped half-sister of Trash Kit, and Divine Times accentuates that outlook.

And I thought I would double up on the dog motif with Holiday, an EP out through Soft Power from Brighton duo Dog Legs. A thrashy punk bliss bomb, the title track blast open the doors; 'Ugly' takes on the 50s cutesier guitar pop staples and roughs them up a bit; 'I Trusted You' is a scuzzed-out mantra; 'Ice Cream Cone' is thirty-six seconds of the same idea. My favourite track is the ominous Cramps-lite crunch in the 'Xmas Cookie', before the weirdness rears its head on 'Messy Cloud' and the excellent 'Things I'll Never Be' rounds the whole thing out. It's a fun release that reminds me of when I heard Slowcoaches the first time back in 2012. Hurry up there is only one cassette left! GET IT.

Featuring Feature

Another excellent release from Ruined Smile Records is this lil EP from London trio Feature. I got to catch these girls when they opened for Protomartyr in London back in August, and they really held their own. Featuring members of Sauna Youth and Slowcoaches, the band have put together this five-track number to combine their Tie Dye Records cassette Culture Of The Copy from last year, while the last two tracks are about to feature on a split EP with the aforementioned Slowcoaches called Tourists (out soon on Unwork Records). The first three tracks are rawer due to the initial two piece configuration, so there are spaces in the songs that are well and truly blown out in the live arena here. Set staple 'Psalms' is a particular track that has ramped up since this recording, yet there is an undeniable growl and bluster that underpins it all. 'Wisdom Teeth' (which we see the new film clip for below) and 'Tourism Fiction' show the rambunctious new dynamic, but still holds dear the insidious pop melodies that have always been the band's strength. And we are only likely to have more evidence of this burgeoning power with two new releases in the wind (including one through SM fave Soft Power Records) as well as a full length targeted for 2016.

Pre-order Tourists here. The band just played a free gig with Leeds noiseniks Super Luxury last Friday, but there is more fun to be had with these ladies:

Saturday 2nd May - Odd Box Records Weekender, The Shacklewell Arms, London w/ Slowcoaches, Joey Fourr, The Fish Police and more 

Friday 8th May - Gullivers, Manchester w/ Gorgeous Bully 

Monday 11th May - Oslo, Hackney w/ Cheatahs & No Joy 

Friday 29th May - Berlin, Germany w/ DIÄT Saturday 

3rd October - The 9th Annual Nottingham Pop All-dayer, The Maze, Nottingham w/ Witching Waves and more 

Soft Grimacing Waves

Irish label Soft Power ended 2014 and started 2015 in strong fashion with a pair of releases that really impress. In December London duo/trio and SM faves Witching Waves released their debut LP Fear of Falling Down (which is almost sold out already - get one of the last 35 here), which is an absolute corker of a record that broods within garage rock circles yet are more indebted to the Fortuna Pop crowd, and are more reminiscent of Sons & Daughters than their angular brethren. Going from DIY bludgeoning to a label that has coaxed the likes of September Girls and The Spook School into the limelight hasn't changed Witching Waves' gritty-yet-hook-heavy approach one iota. This is an excellent release, and damned if these guys won't be doing something special by year's end. Get along and see them play Power Lunches this Friday.

Then there is I Am Material, the six-track cassette EP from fellow Londoners H. Grimace, which goes even further into the dark, yet hushed, corners. The lurking ambiance is always imbued with unkempt portent, so that when a song like 'Royal Hush' starts out a languid pop malaise (something akin to Melbourne's Summer Flake), its facade cracks and the true beast is unleashed. 'To The Shaggerston' is a punk gnarl of the Seattle backwater variety (and all the greater because of it). To my ears, there aren't many bands in London doing this kind of ragged, languid rock, which makes them all the more important to get behind. Not that we will see them much in March, as they do a frantic tour across the US aided in part by SF label 20 Sided Records.

Sinking Under The Witching Waves

Man I'm loving the punch and grit of Concrete, London duo Witching Waves’ cassette (out through Soft Power Records). Two track only but they clearly embody the twin personalities coiled within – wrecked guitar pop with a mono, brooding sheen and languishing ambitions on the wasteland Midlands a la Sons & Daughters at their most nihilistically droll (‘Concrete’), until the “chorus” gives us a ray of sunshine; and a lurking post punk found in a no frills deserted art space, all space and nuance and intent before the hammer threatens to rain down (‘Chain Of Command’). It’s minimal, yet the interaction between the two make this a rollicking listen and promises for the same in the live arena. Showing that England isn’t devoid of interesting, dark, grimy rock (albeit with the colourful sheen afforded by the interplaying boy/girl vocals undercutting the distortion and one-two relentlessness of the drums). The cassette is sold out – Witching Waves are resolutely DIY so expect to see them play a squat, laundromat or pub toilet near you (Ill try to make the Bad Vibrations show at the Shacklewell Arms on Sunday August 3 - maybe see y'all there?).

Cursing The September Girls

I’ve been watching the progress of Ireland’s lost pop noir rockers September Girls for some time, ever since they dropped their Green Eyed/Danny Wood 7” through Soft Power Records back in 2012. The girls have built up a steady oeuvre of reverbed and honeyed harmonies with a buoyant instrumentation laced with something more sinister since then, and now they arrive with their debut album Cursing The Sea (coming out on Fortuna Pop).

 That undercurrent of darkness has bubbled closer to the surface over time; the quintet busy in the shadows over the twelve track on display here and is never more haunted and suggestive than on ‘Left Behind.’ It’s clear the 60s garage pop resurgence that continues to reverberate some years onward have left its indelible mark on the band – listen to the opening moments of ‘Heartbeats’ and you can hear a sneering Mamas & Papas, pastoral pop dressed in leather – but there are moments that echo further outwards into the early Gothic dourness of The Jesus & Mary Chain, as the broiling post-punk of ‘Ships’ attests. The slight shifts in nuance comes from the fact that four out of five members are songwriters, an evident source of inspirations that allows Cursing The Sea to shy away from the more predictable mores of the genre. September Girls still reminds me of Brisbane band Feathers, which makes me sad, because they were a great band that were really starting to flex their creativity. But Cursing The Sea makes me happy too, as September Girls are here to pick up the slack and run with it. The end result is a dark, seductive whisper from behind you – wind on your cheek, promising danger and desire in (un)equal measure.

Pre-order Cursing The Sea here.

Soft Power Deliver A Rosy Crucifixion On The Wharves

Another day, another split. This one comes from the heady halls of the UK’s Soft Power Records, bringing the nations together since Andy Murray (what do you mean, he’s Scottish? He’s bloody British I’ll have you know!) This awesome album sees London 60s power pop psych acolytes The Wharves with Glasgow’s own beguiling scuzz lizards The Rosy Crucifixion, with electric results.

The Wharves’ side undulates from the Warpaint-swirl of ‘Thick Syrup’, the sunny bounce of ‘Unhand Me’, the seductive blues swirl of ‘Motif’, the Kim Deal-meets-Led Zeppelin dirge ‘Woodchip’, the beautiful pastoral effort ‘Past Life 1887’ – all strengthened by the double-helix soar of twin vocalists Gemma Fleet (bass) and Dearbhla Minogue (guitar) and pounding metronome of Marion Andreau’s drumming propels everything down the rabbithole. It’s exhilarating stuff, especially the haunting grind of closer ‘Deepwater Horizon’, and this is greatly tempered by the rusted coil sensual tension inherent with The Rosy Crucifixion’s efforts.

Emily MacLaren’s guitar lines are sinful as hell, and that voice has been gilded by the Devil himself to ruin many a good man, myself included. ‘Do You Right’, ‘Lose Yourself’, ‘Sinners’, ‘Hot In Your Head’ – this shit should be illegal for the virile masses (I’m glad it isn’t though – any more illicit and I’d perish). Stuart Evans’ bass follows the cues, making the debasement unavoidable, before Conal Blake pummels you into submission, the trio stealing your wallet and dignity but not your smile and eternal thanks.

You can get the split 12” here – great stuff. The Wharves are playing in London tonight to launch the split at The Macbeth, alongside Warm Brains, Blood Of The Bull and Gold Bars. See you there.

The Dead Identity

I have to admit a penchant for horizontal stripes and tape machines; The Spook School seem to have all bases covered. And, and, and the guitars, and the back-and-forth vocals, and the song titles ('Can You Ever Trust a Man who Thinks Matt Damon's Really Cool?')! I want to be there jumping on the bed when they hit 'record' - and hit record.

I'm smiling and I don't know why, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm more than a little enamoured. Much more. I know that for sure.


I Don't Know, You Don't Know, We Both Don't Know has a 'super limited!' cassette release through Soft Power Records. And if any Spook School mates live in Australia, it's time you asked them over to visit.

Green-Eyed September Girls

It's been three weeks since I've properly put my blogging hat on, and I apologise for the lateness of this particular review as it was written last month, but not posted. Dublin's September Girls know when to bring a single out. Dropping on the month of their moniker, Green Eyed/Danny Wood is  the perfect mix of brooding and bubbly pop. They remind me of another all-girl band called Feathers, with the ability to slide around the 60s girl-led, guitar-driven pop tropes, crafting something that is immediate yet avoids being disposable. The A-side is especially killer. They are a bright commodity with lots of potential - I can't wait for something even more substantial to come into play from them. Until then though, Soft Power Records are putting this beauty out on 7" in a couple weeks - pre-order it here.


September Girls - Green Eyed
September Girls - Danny Wood