Song reviews

New Lingo, on the evidence of “Witch Hunt”, seem to be pitching a rambling version of indie rock as their way forward to fame. The impassioned lead vocals make a positive impression but the song itself is strictly by the numbers.

“Three of Swords” is, in the best rock tradition, a song about a girl with enough big guitar riffs thrown into the mix to make Shuckster seem more muscular and modern than most.

Katie Herzig neatly demonstrates her mastery of modern day electro pop with her song “Feel Alive” soaring high above her many competitors. She’s not retro and that’s a very good thing indeed and “Feel Alive” deserves a wider audience than the IPod generation.

Jess and The Ancient Ones sound like a band that knows how to have fun and “Minotaure” has a sixties psych rock groove providing sterling support to the dramatic lead vocals thus keeping the song, in today’s terms at least, on the offbeat side of the fence.

They say that some things improve with age and certainly Andy Lampert’s song “Warsaw” is an example of that with a rather clumsy start giving way to a rather pleasing retake of the seventies glam rock sound. Chopping the song to three minutes would probably make it special.

Taking a rather more intellectual approach are Brooklyn’s Fovea proving themselves unafraid of complexity as they meander through their song “Cost Of” and duly providing the curious with something to ponder and, indeed, savour.

Now this one works! “The Way That I Feel” is propelled forward by a retro electropop engine and features lyrics that are little more than a chant yet such is the energy generated by GGOOLLDD that you can’t help but sing along.

The retro safe gets blown again and all those plastic eighties beats are, once more, on their way to that dodgy street corner pawn shop to be exchanged for a hit. L.A.D. are, however, notably better than most musical thieves with some dynamic female vocals adding that special sparkle to “Dance Floor.

Making the urban streets of today burn with seventies soul style, passion and purpose is a challenge but Kadija Kamara is more than up to the job with her song “Eyes on You” striking straight at the heart of the matter.

“Scarlet Fever” plays with enough drama to be a country song yet it is so full of upbeat pop-rock energy that you can’t help but sing along and that’s more than enough reason to put Skye Wallace on my playlist for the week.

More electro pop from the chilled cupboards of Scandinavia but, this time, Norway’s Dagny sets out to be a rather more upbeat contender than her contemporaries with her song “Love You Like That” shaping up as nice example of the modern day pop song.

It’s not often that I get to use the words sweet and innocent in a review yet Mallrat’s song “Better” deserves to be described as such with this particular Australian singer songwriter managing to sound like the soundtrack to some long lost, and simpler, times.