Song reviews

Easy on the ear, Venus Rising casually roll further down the well-trodden folk rock road with their song “Lazy Daze”. The sound may not be new but the feel is definitely that of the good old days with singer Sheena Bratt keeping things securely on the sentimental track.

It’s a love song of sorts but “Love Me Badder” from Elliphant, despite her Swedish origin, is a rather brutal stylistic reinterpretation of the American urban style. She’s got attitude, without a doubt, and that easily sells the song.

“Golden” might well sound like homespun lo-fi synth pop but beneath it all beats the heart of a true pop song and it is to the credit of Mezko, who are from Sydney in Australia, that the result is harmonious and organic rather than synthetic and sterile.

Four sisters from Australia, Stonefield drift through rock music’s past in search of their muse. “Golden Dream” ticks all the boxes for San Francisco in the early seventies and adds a deliciously determined vocal. Girl power at its best, I would say.

Indie pop has its rules and Australian band Dianas know when to follow them and when to add in their own particular brand of quirkiness. “Good Enough Girl” has the requisite fey female harmonies but is actually driven forever onwards by the kind of insistent guitar that you would expect of bad boy indie rockers. Easy when you know how and Dianas do.

A rather conventional rock song, “Later Than You Think” is likely to make some of you nostalgic for the kind of honesty that you used to get in music way back when. Sally Crewe keeps things understated but she remains sufficiently robust to suggest that she means what she sings.

There’s a lot going on in Canada these days and, with variety being the spice of life, Selfish Things take it upon themselves to gather their post grunge sensibilities and apply it to the normally mundane indie rock genre. Their song, “Spooky Action at a Distance”, manages to be both curiously resonant and something of a swansong to teen alienation.

Certainly in pursuit of mood rather than adventure, Swedish electro-poppers Death In The Afternoon loop themselves into eternal worship of the past with their song “‘82”. This is not the kind of song that is likely to generate excitement but perhaps that is the point.

Always one to deliver an intelligent song, Tokyo Rosenthal shows his mastery of irony with his song “The Cold War” painting a convincing picture of how the threat of war is infinitely preferable to the real thing. The playful New Orleans feel of the song provides further counterpoint, as if it were needed, to the wisdom in his words and, once again, causes me to draw the conclusion that Tokyo Rosenthal is the thinking man’s songwriter.

Squeezing as much nihilism into two and a half minutes as a Glasgow band can, Natalie Pryce nonetheless aim their tormented quasi rock ‘n’ roll song “Derek Scott” at the moon and just about get it there. Dark but not bleak, if you know what I mean.

Beth Ford has a nice clear and cultured voice that seems unsullied by the rigours of life. Her song “If I Could Escape” is a wholesome one too and that gives her combined voice and song what might be best called “grandmother appeal”.

The somewhat understated voice of Olivia Hally gives “The Race” its ear appeal but the minimalist electro backing complements the wry lyrics of the song nicely. Oh Pep! are definitely, and probably defiantly, worth a listen.