Song reviews

“Pretend Like You Belong” sounds like it should be from another time and Lisa Cerbone has taken her wistful singer songwriter vibe and combined it with an endearing sentimentality to make a delicately seasoned sonic confection.

Pomelo use loops stripped from the dancefloor and reapplied in a neo ambient way to give their song “Loreless” that disconnected urban feel with the spoken female vocals being the perfect foil to the beat of the style machine.

Positioned slightly to the left of the mainstream, Gurry Wurry delivers another nearly but not quite pop song in “Have You” with some decent lyrics lifting the song up. A bit different but not so different as to need the services of a translator.

Nicely fingerpicking his way through “I Ain’t Gonna Worry About It”, Darren A Flynn demonstrates that Americana is his thing and, thanks to that endearingly feelgood vibe, even your Auntie Flo will like this song.

Filling the void with ambient loops, Video Blue take “Rise” and add vocals that make the result more a recitation than a song. That said, there is much in the way of literacy, and even poetic intent, to be found in this short distraction from reality.

There is something almost hypnotic about “Weirdo Magnet” by Disgusting Sisters and, by some sort of electro pop magic, they take their song and transform it into the something that simply gets stuck in the space between your ears.

“Kissing In The Rain“ has all the hallmarks of a breezy pop song and Ciao Lucifer keep the groove going for the requisite three minutes whilst maintaining a decent degree of melodic intent. Any song with a hook works for me.

Not quite offbeat but definitely not quite conventional, Drug Store Raid effectively demonstrate that post punk can be matured in something a bit special and their song “Ernie Playing Blues” is evidence of that.

Middle Class Guilt engage maximum rambling mode with their song “Skald” tempo shifting like an art rocker recovering from a post punk trip for its five minute duration. That said, I’ll take that approach over merciless looping every time.

Eerie Indie Adam has lost his offbeat sensibilities over the years but has replaced them with the ability to take his properly constructed songs like “I Never Thought You Couldn't Not” all the way to the bridge where festival success forever waits for him.

“Meet On The Moon” takes a train trip to the dream pop station but Alex Amor’s return ticket has sensitive singer songwriter stamped all over it so at least she has enough steam to get her song of the heart back home.

Castlebeat secure their seat on the indie pop bandwagon to yesteryear with “My Love” and all those retro loops live once more in this song. It’s quite a catchy song and is a possible reminder that yesterday was a lot simpler than today.