New Releases - 13 Oct

New Releases - 13 Oct

08 October, 2008
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*
Ra Ra Riot – Ghost Under Rocks
V2

Listen to this song on its own merit and you'll hear a rather nice slice of melodic indie pop, with Wesley Miles's yelping cadences and the driving string section pitching it somewhere between Vampire Weekend and early Arcade Fire.

Then consider that John Pike – RRR's original drummer and this song's co-writer – drowned last summer before this song was re-recorded, and the power of this record becomes clear. Miles' mournful vocals and the sepia-toned rushes of the chorus take on a new dimension. It won't take long for the NME to invent the subgenre of closure-pop. MF


Wiley – Summertime
Asylum

Hey! School's out, we're feeling hot and Wiley's Daft Punk-sampling anthem is blasting from every car stereo and boom-box in the park. Oh, wait a minute. It's October. This is not in fact the time, if such a thing exists, for Eskiboy to be remodelled as Will Smith.

It's not that 'Summertime' is bad exactly, for what it is, even though it's received plenty of hate. But recently Wiley declared on an internet forum (as he is wont to do) that since it was made, he's had yet another split with his latest label Asylum. Does anyone wonder why? RH


The King Blues – My Boulder
Island

Is it too early to get nostalgic about third wave ska/punk? I guess that question is a little redundant now, as The King Blues have dragged the genre skanking and screaming into 2008 with this song.

As a guy who skateboarded in the late '90s I have fond memories of this stuff, and anything that sounds as much like Symposium and Rancid as 'My Boulder' does is bound to make me smile. The lyrics are pretty uplifting too. DH


Sash feat. Stunt – Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)
Hard 2 Beat

Picture the scene. You're in a club. The DJ has just slipped on the new Sash 'Encore Une Fois' remix with extra vocals and an accelerated speed of 140bpm.

The atmosphere in the room turns electric. People are yelling and clapping, you turn to your friend and yell: 'This is the reason we spend so much money on clubbing and buying dance records, fuck the hour-long queue to get in – it was worth it to hear this!' No? I couldn't either. EM


CSS – Move
SubPop

'Move' is good if you like that sort of thing; light-hearted, cute, bubbly, synth-pop. The video features the band cocking around on holiday taking Polaroids of each other with Lovefoxx donning a selection of her trademark multi-coloured catsuits.

Cansei de Ser Sexy means 'tired of being sexy' in Brazilian Portuguese and is a direct quote/lie from Ms Beyonce Knowles. This is where Brazilian electro-pop team CSS get their letters and knowing that somehow makes me like them more. So does this video. LC


Snow Patrol – Take Back The City
Polydor

Surely Snow Patrol plc is one of the only credit crunch-proof industries out there? Every X-Factor sob story, sombre soap storyline and mournful news montage is accompanied by the plinky-plonk of 'Chasing Cars', so the royalty cheques must be rolling in daily.

This track attempts to fuse their scruffier indie roots with their latter day U2 pretensions – the guitarist even sports an Edge-style beanie in the video – but falls short of the mark on both counts. Watch out for a new tear-jerking ballad just in time for Simon Cowell to shatter the dreams of another batch of talentless oafs. MF


Wild Beasts – Brave Bulging Bouyant Clairvoyants
Domino

If you imagine the world of popular music as a great JD Wetherspoons, then Wild Beasts are one of those strange men that prop up the bar, paying with massive rolled up wads of £10 notes. They may seem mad, but there's always an air of mystery to those guys.

'Brave Bulging Bouyant Clairvoyants' does nothing to shed any light on this band's collective mental state. It's sort of like the bastard son of Adam Ant and Kate Bush, with lyrics that make almost no sense and guitars that feel like you're trapped in a creepy house of mirrors. I can't decide if this is genius or simply deranged. DH


Lesser Panda – Ghostdance/Carousel
Superdark Music

It's quite a hard juggling act, but Lesser Panda seem to get it just about right. A bit cold, slightly arch, quite fiddly: but never too much of any one of these.

On 'Ghostdance' the vocals start off a bit Neil's Children, then grow like Robert Smith, and that's cool. 'Carousel' sees a bit more emotion, but not too much, mind. The twiddly electro flickerings are given depth by gently thudding drums and electro-Gregorian backing vocals. Slick stuff, certainly, and exciting too. TJ


The Kooks – Sway
Virgin

Starting well with the beginnings of a guitar-strummed love sonnet, teenage girls with doe-eyed expressions plastered across their faces will gobble this dreary attempt at music with unyielding hearts.

I'll give Luke Pritchard this – his voice is powerful and conveys raw emotion, but it's backed up with depressingly apathetic lyrics such as 'Still I need your sway, because you always pay for it. And I, and I need your soul because you're always soulful'. You'll need Professor Langdon to decipher this tune's meaning. SO'D


The Ting Tings – Be The One
Columbia

A dreamier, more mellow perspective on the chart-topping twosome. Jules De Martino goes all Phil Oakley circa Electric Dreams, with a charming, gentle melody, and softens up Katie White's vocals – a good move. While the raucous edge worked, it's nice to hear another tone.

This is a love song of sorts, not too sappy though thank God. It isn't as memorable as their debut or as suitable for dancing with your mates. Instead, cut silly shapes with your kooky lover. JH

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Music Team