Song reviews

“Ahnen” might well be regarded as playful compared to what is normally expected from this serious, both musically and lyrically, Scottish band but White Heath mix up complexity and quirkiness successfully with the result that this song soon justifies its place on the steps of the arthouse.

Marlene Oak has her own vocal style, without a doubt, and the bleak, bluesy feel of “How Long” provides her with the opportunity to show what she can do and you can almost feel the redemption coming to get you. She’s a class act.

Endearingly robotic in style, “Just Wanna Belong” makes all the right European noises with the distinctly confident voice of Eric Rapp injecting just enough passion to both counteract the potential sterility of the song and simultaneously give crossover appeal.

Ah, if only it were yesterday! Low Cut High Tops might be well be seen as an American indie rock band these days but “Let’s Runaway”, entirely the work of one David Burns apparently, embodies all those good old fashioned values like a melody and a singalong chorus that once made a profitable and healthy record industry. Throw in enough power chords to give the song boy appeal and you have a winner.

Spaced out and yet cool enough to catch the ear of the trendsetters out there, Bouche takes her wistful voice and double bass and uses them to cross the border between jazz and folk with her song “Everything and Nothing All At Once” being her passport. Quite mystical and strangely hypnotic.

Hey, a song that does what it says on the box! “Good Things” is so good natured, innocent and uplifting that Lorraine and the Borderlands could perhaps pass it off as a hymn. I feel cleansed already.

An edgy slice from the power pop cake, The Sally Rose Band garnish their song “Banshee” with enough nervous energy to make it stand out from the crowd. Sally Rose’s voice is infused with Nashville intent but the rest of the band are determined to kick the song a long way down the highway of life.

High on drama and atmosphere, “Swans” gives Laura Carbone the opportunity to strut the night streets in the company of one hypnotic beat and many bleak guitars with the very shadows providing the harmonies. The moonlight won’t save you from this one.

Whilst clearly a product of the mainstream, British singer songwriter FourAlarmFire nonetheless demonstrates that the middle of the road can be a good place to be especially when his song “I’ll Take It All” is home to both melody and a singalong chorus.

“Be My Friend” is the kind of splendidly energetic yet completely unpretentious song that used to grow everywhere in the USA (except shopping malls, of course) during the eighties. It might well be an old fashioned approach but Braggers have no problem getting their point across.

An odd name for a band but The Gaa Gaas put more than enough fury into their frenetic song “Close Your Eyes” to take it safely across the border from indie rock territory into the evergreen pastures that is, and always will be, post punk. The art school crowd will love this one.

The Burning Hell undoubtedly have an ear for poetry and their wry lyrics add the hot sauce to their somewhat frenetic power pop song “Men Without Hats”. One for my baby and one for the road, as they say.