New Releases - 10 Nov

New Releases - 10 Nov

05 November, 2008
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*

Kelli Ali – What To Do/One Day At A Time
One Little Indian

What a pleasant surprise – a lovely double A side from the Brummie lass out of the Sneaker Pimps. There are trip hop influences in the complex soundscaping – but the medium is dreamy guitar folk. And it's not shit – it's bloody good.

Mark Richter's subtle pipe-sprinkled production complements guitar melodies and a sustained, captivating voice. This is like a haunting, modern version of the lullaby sung by naked Britt Eckland as she thumps on the virgin's wall in The Wicker Man. Horny! JH

White Lung – Magazines
Hockey Dad Records

I'm slightly scared of White Lung. On the outside they're all cutesy Canadian fashion student types who you can imagine spend their time talking about boys and listening to Weezer records, but then you stick one of their records on and the sound that comes out is like being beaten by an 18-stone baton-wielding muscle man.

'Magazines' is pretty typical of this band's recent output - an amazing mish-mash of Rollin's Band, Wire, and Sonic Youth that makes you think, 'fuck! I wish I could make music like that…' DH

Enya – Trains and Winter Rain
Reprise

The bleak Monday after a hectic Halloween is surely the perfect time to listen to a spot of Enya. Well, that's what I thought when I put this new track on. There's nothing here gonna panic you, just soothing strings and wispy vocals to carry you gently off to drowsy fluff-land.

Right? Well, yes. But I'm not supposed to sleep at work. So thanks Enya, for getting me in trouble like that. Thanks a bunch, you bloody sap. TJ

Cheeky Cheeky and the Nose Bleeds – Let Me Go
Twenty Years of Boredom

The minute this track starts my leg seems to begin twitching in time to the guitar intro.  It's a funny mixture of sounds, like a blend of punk and brit-pop but with a '60s hook at the end of the chorus that wouldn't have been out of place at a Chuck Berry concert. 

It's catchy and it makes me feel like I should be in a big dancehall with screaming teenage girls, frantically trying to catch the lead singer's eye by waving my embroidered hanky. EM

Manda Rin – Guilty Pleasure
This Is Fake DIY Records

This arrived by post, but after slapping it on, the immediate reaction is 'hold on, this has been getting actual airplay'. It's easy to see why – this is properly catchy power-pop.

'Guilty Pleasure' is an insistent, looped riff owing a lot to the power-stepping style of Soulwax, with a smartly tweaked vocal and a memorable chorus. It's not especially clever or anything but works its way into your brain and is more than suitable for a spot of finger-wagging disco dancing. JH

Twisted Wheel – Lucy the Castle
Columbia

Weller, The Clash, Oasis, The Knack: they're all admirable influences (apart from Oasis) if a little bit over-referenced right now. Twisted Wheel dabble in all of these and more in this frantic, likeable new track from their forthcoming sessions album. The riff is instant and the singer snarls away, and at least he kind of seems to mean it.

Whatever 'it' is though, god only knows. 'Lucy the Castle'? Odd name for a castle if you ask me. Must be a northern thing. TJ

We Have Band – Oh
50/Bones

With Christmas fast approaching, minds are turning to things – getting lagered up at the office Christmas party and figuring out what to buy your over-demanding girlfriend who seems to own everything in the world already.

Sensing a gap in the market no doubt, We Have Band has spanned this gaping chasm with 'Oh'. It's cool enough to be playing in River Island whilst you search the rails and is electro enough for you to dance do like an overweight accounts manager. Genius.  DH

The Situationists – Onwards and Upwards
Tough Love Records

Well, the Situationists can certainly play, and this has a certain pep – it's on the right side of indie, and makes the listener pogo involuntarily forwards, possibly splashing beer everywhere. The pub would be a good context for loving this track.

However, vocal drop-away harmonies, 'ooh ooh oohs' and smart-arse lyrics strongly recall utter shit-merchants The Kooks. Anybody, including The Situationists, who thinks this track has a spark of originality, needs to take a long look at themselves. JH

Beyonce - If I Were a Boy
Columbia

'If I were a boy I'd drink beer with the guys and chase after girls.' Is this Beyoncé trying to hop on the Katy Perry lesbian bandwagon to sell more records?  Well no,  actually it appears the ballad is about a girl imagining herself behaving as badly as her boy does, by flirting with other boys - 'How do you like them apples?!' kind of thing.

Thought–provoking stuff and a good excuse to don a sexy policewoman's outfit and shoot some guns. EM

The Smiths – Hand in Glove/Handsome Devil
Warner Bros.

At the record company meeting,
On their hands, a dead star.
And oh, the plans they weave,
And oh, the sickening greed.

Re-issue ! Re-package ! Re-package !
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)

At the record company meeting,
On their hands, not yet, a dead star.
But they can never taint you in my eyes.
No, they can never touch you now. TJ/Morrissey

Music Team