Song reviews

Berlin Taxi turn out to be an American synth pop band yet their song “Last Night” resonates with musical influences from the bleaker end of the European spectrum. The result has, unsurprisingly, analogue inclinations and plenty of reverb.

Ripping a page right out of the art rock playbook are Sistertalk. The ghosts of the past dance with them throughout “Vitriol” but that is half the fun with songs of this sort. Needless to say, the necessary attitude is present, correct and wearing a silk tie.

It would seem that the days of the power ballad are not over with Hana Piranha’s song “Naked Flame” being a fine example of what FM radio used to favour. The female vocals lead the song forward but it is the muscular guitars that actually keep the song on track.

I like it when a band makes a bit of effort to make their music different and Eckhardt and The House have duly done that with the trippy “Humans” resonating with all sorts of quirky influences from past and present. See the light dance!

A vaguely unsettling addition to the fashionable robotic reinvention of the pop song, “1000 words” is right on the pulse of sequenced monotone with 0171 showing themselves to be more ironic than a telephone area code should be.

Ginesse stars as the uptown girl that keeps on making good with this mainstream ballad that transcends its plastic heritage by intelligently injecting enough heart and soul to put the coffee shop crowd into spasms of synchronicity.

It might seem rather strange to describe a song as “oddly human” yet the term seems nothing less than appropriate when considering Skyscraper Stan’s song “On Your Corners” with his fractured Americana influences soon being overcome by glorious old school sentimentality.

“Leaning on Myself” is another slice from the cake of bleakness much favoured by minimalist Scandi electropop bakers like Anna of the North. The song is, of course, nicely executed but seekers of happiness will have to look elsewhere.

Make no mistake about it, “Disappear” is an endearing song that stays just this side of offbeat with Paria playing with your ears like a supercool jazz cat would play with a ball of wool. If I were a multinational technology giant, I would license this song for my next commercial. Believe it!

Now this is more like it. Say no to subtlety. Say yes instead to kicking the walls down and, with this full on power chord barrage of a song called “Boogie”, Norwegian band Wet Dreams do just that. Originality is often overrated but attitude is forever and ever the answer to everything.

Although moody to the point of melancholy, HAVVK throw enough guitar muscle power into “Bird On A Wire” to turn the female vocals into the perfectly designed, and almost wistful, counterpoint. The art house crowd will undoubtedly like this one.

I have to admit to finding “House On A Rocky Road” by Maya Lavelle endearingly quirky. I’m also sure that some will find the song irritating but any musician who strays away from the sequenced norm will always find favour with me.