The first of five singles to appear on my desk this month is Junkboy’s beautifully fey ‘Friends part 2’ which is a flute-ridden ray of sunshine form the stunning ‘Koyo’ album and which features a lovely vocal harmony that perfectly matches the Beach Boy’s esque (albeit via ‘Pet Sounds’) pop music on offer. Available as a digital download from July 26th through Enraptured records it perfectly encapsulates the sound of the summer.
Available on LoAF recordings from August 2nd is Seeland’s ‘Local park’ which is available as a CD and digital download. ‘Local park’ is a musical oddity, sitting somewhere between the psychedelic sounds of late seventies Bowie and mid-nineties indie pop such as Blur (before they decided to follow Pavement) it’s a joyous song that owes as much to Sonic Youth’s wild experimentation as it does to retro-pop music such as the Kinks. The first single to come from Seeland’s sophomore outing ‘How to live’ (out in September), it promises great things.
In a completely different change of pace we have Jettblack with ‘get your hands dirty’ (the video for which is at the bottom of the page) who are one of the latest signings to the wonderful Spinefarm records and who dish out down ‘n’ dirty rock and roll with hint of AC/DC, a touch of Def Leppard and a hefty dose of Steel Wing and Motley Crue pumping through their veins. Certainly the most energetic of the tracks on offer it’s guaranteed to get the most apathetic of heads a-banging which can only be a good thing! The B side of ‘mother f***er (acoustic) is a mighty work of genius complete with astonishing guitar playing (with cheeky ‘paint it black’ riff thrown in) and sweet vocal harmonies and it’s worth picking up the single for this track alone reminding you of the time when band’s used to pour effort into their b sides rather than just tacking on a remix. Great stuff and single of the month (thanks to the awesome b side).
Next up are Monotonix who offer up a tasty 7” in the form of ‘fun, fun, fun’ which is everything you’ve come to love about the band – trashy guitars, sneered vocals and drums that sound like they were recorded by God! Tel Aviv’s terrors are on frighteningly good form (and are only just pipped to the post of single of the month by the mighty Jet Black) and the b side of ‘try, try, try’ (no, not the Smashing Pumpkins version) is, if anything, even more mental with the guitars soundling on the verge of spontaneous combustion and the clattering rhythm sounding permanently on the edge of complete collapse. None more punk, none more crazy – if you find this release buy it, then kick yourself and buy a second copy in case the first one wears out.
Finally we have Darren Hayman and the secondary modern with ‘nothing you can do about it’ which is also available on August 2nd through Fortuna Pop as a download only. OF all the releases this is the least satisfying as it offers little new and recalls the home-made singles that you could occasionally pick up from Org records in the mid nineties. That is not to say it’s bad per se, rather that it sounds like various other lo-fi acts that have passed across this desk before and while there’s clearly talent here, perhaps this wasn’t the best track to offer as a single. However, those with a penchant for spirited lo-fi indie-pop will undoubtedly fiund much to love and the b side, ‘trees and leaves’ doesn’t sound a million miles away from the Smashing Pumpkins at their most twee and stripped down (think the quiet b sides from the Mellon collie singles such as ‘tonite reprise’ and you’re there) is a more emotive offering.
