Song reviews

Some songs just pummel their way into your head and “Ketchup” by La Sécurité does just that. The song has urban minimalism, nearly indecipherable female vocals and an infusion of that disconcerting feeling of being in the wrong basement at the wrong time.

I would normally run from any song as robotically looped to the beat as “Advance” by Gates of Light yet the quintessential intoxication that is the voice of Louise Quinn led me to believe that the Queen of Cool was also a diva of the dancefloor.

This is more like it with down and dirty guitars aplenty propelling “Reptilian Royalty” along the highway to hell just like it always should be. Electric Children, and the delightfully named Jesika von Rabbit, burn rubber with this one.

Another day, another Christian song. This time it is “My God Is Amazing” by Mack Holland. Naturally, the lyrics are deadly earnest and Mack Holland’s delivery is also deadly earnest in that way that Christian music tends to be these days.

Full of sharp angles and post punk energy, “Itchy” by Italian band Leatherette struts down the street of your city with purpose and much in the way of edgy guitars as accompaniment. Beer and volume will make this song work like it should.

The ways of the acoustic singer songwriter are often seasoned with sentimentality and “Hush” by Kathy Muir duly does not disappoint with her special sauce being the poise and literacy she adds to her recipe. One for the heart.

I would normally like to crush this one as “Everybody Prays” is undoubtedly a Christian song yet, in the troubled times of today, we all need something uplifting to listen to and Elvis Francois certainly has the voice to convince even unbelievers.

Intense is the way to go for Vénus Bleue and “Héréditaire Parricide” duly strikes out as if deeper meaning was their destiny with the inspired arrangements and theatrical vocals taking the listener all the way to the door of the rock opera house.

Heavily processed and skilfully looped into ear candy, “Certified” demonstrates that Miso Extra knows what is expected of a pop princess these days. The lyrics, however, indicate that there is more to her than simply style.

“Tall Blonde Honey” rolls like a solid rock song should yet there is more substance than you might expect in the lyrics. The Kyle Jordan Project aren’t a protest band but they also aren’t blind to the bleached ways of the modern world.

This is an odd one. “Sanctimonious Sue” sounds like it should have been released back in the sixties yet, with determined repetition, PHK stretch this song out to a seventies style five minutes without losing anything in the way of vigour.

It has been a week for songs that sound like they should have been made decades ago. Nothing wrong with that, of course and “For The Win” by Dick Aven duly exudes that, fondly remembered. FM rock sentimentality.