Song reviews

Again a retro sound looking back at the bleaker days of analogue synth pop with enough Bauhaus stylistic influences evident to permanently smudge a guy’s mascara, “Prey Drive” stalks the shadows successfully for Philadelphia band Kiss of the Whip. Sniff the finger, so to speak.

On first acquaintance, “Silence Won’t Help Me Now” sounds like a straight out of the box electronic pop song of today but Laura Jean Anderson has a trick or two up her sleeve and uses literate lyrics and a dash of drama to stamp her individuality all over the song.

I hazard a guess that Sercati are some sort of black metal band and they duly display vigour in their exploitation of the clichés inherent in the genre. The moderate tempo of “Shockwaves of the Countdown”, along with the hint of a melody, makes a pleasant change of pace and should keep the fans happy.

Following the minimalist bedsit electronica path with diligence does not prove to be much of a problem for Ivy Lab although the less attentive may not fully appreciate the post midnight chill out vibe of their song “Jet Lag”.

Another day and another retro song although this time it is the sequenced excesses of the nineties urban sound that are revisited. Fortunately, Maya Killtron makes a convincing effort at recreating those stretch limo days with “Satin Sheets”.

So determinedly retro that they could be analogue, Polychrome do the hypnotically looped electro pop thing like it was back in the day with their song “Dreaming About You” ticking all the right boxes for the trendsetters of today.

Kings Indian do a sort of indie meet soft rock thing with their single “Sweet Company”. They even manage to throw some convincing harmonies into the song and that along with, as the old folks say, remembering to take it to the bridge makes this one rather better than I expected.

OK, so you have got a song that highlights the appeal of strong drink and women and, although Johnny & The Bootlegs aren’t actually from 1974, their song “NYC Woman” provided more than enough reason to make you wish for the return of the good old days.

Modern day jazz is the name of the game for Alba Plano and “Out There” shows she has enough class to make in it in any uptown supper club. Will that be enough to get Alba Plano some attention for herself? The cognoscenti will undoubtedly think so.

Lots of attitude helps “Under The Moon” make a positive impression for Danish artist Rebecca Lou even if the mix of downbeat tone and loud guitars makes the song more a soundtrack to a montage than an old school chart challenger.

Now this song was rather more interesting than I expected with Floor Eight neatly turning “Mr Blue” into a hybrid of hard rock and jazz rock and pulling it off like a band with considerably more power chord miles on the clock than they actually have. Thumbs up for this one.

Although “Voices” by Canadian band Ellevator seems to play by the rules of the guitar led indie genre, the female vocals are an altogether lighter, even ethereal, proposition that are more folk rock of the past than playlist friendly today.