Song reviews

“Safe To Surface” seems initially no more than the work of yet another Chicago rock band suffering flashbacks to a past time. However, give Brontosaurus some of your time and you will hear a band unafraid of the subtleties and complexities required to make a song memorable.

Although inoffensive almost to the point of parody, “Street Lights” does highlight that Sweden’s Mon Sai have the ability to marry melody to harmony in the best indie pop tradition. There are, however, hints in there to suggest that a sense of adventure will develop once their confidence grows.

A neat, if unadventurous, song, “Podesta” shows that California trio Peptalk could easily become the soundtrack to your next latté with the oriental style percussion lifting the song above competing laptop electronica.

You can hear the hard work that has gone into “Phonecalls in the Bath” with none of that one tempo and three chords approach that curses so many Glasgow bands. Instead, we get a restrained start, a spirited middle and an elegant coda to close this glorious song off. May we be blessed with more music from this connoisseur’s choice of a band.

Some band exude obscurity so, other than they are from Chicago, there is little I can tell you about Vissuda. However, it would seem that their music will speak for them with “Drone Octet” developing from a languorous ambient groove into a hypnotic blend of edgy guitar and wistful female vocals. That’s a cool concoction in anyone’s in-car entertainment.

After a minimalist start redolent of sixties psychedelic pop, Colornoise rev their three cylinder musical engine until drama pours out of the exhaust. “Amalie” is the name of their song and the future of this Costa Rican band looks bright indeed.

Whilst never straying far from what you might expect of proficient indie rockers, London’s The Beautiful Game nevertheless show plenty of energy and that, with a spirited vocal performance from Jason Crowley, powers “King William” right through to the end.

Although somewhat sluggish in the rhythm department and heavy handed in the guitar department, Misun – from Washington DC – have just enough oddball charm to get “After Me” to the finish line. The underlying appeal, however, is in the edgy paranoia of the lo-fi female vocals.

Pleasingly insistent, Austrian electro pop duo Leyya have learned lessons from the dancefloor and applied them to their song “Superego” with the laconic female vocal easily exceeding the click track in emotion.

The cynical amongst you might regard “Take It Back” as an attempt at attaining indie credibility but is it wrong that Liza Anne has crossed the road and made it to the coffee shop? I hazard a guess that fans of Sara Bareilles will think not. Two sugars in mine, please.

A gloriously anarchic song that revels in its guitar thrashing punk roots, “Sick Of This Shit” kicks the man mercilessly in such an infectious way that you want to put on your best Doc Marten boots and join in the fun. We should have more elections so that we can all sing along to their tune. I would vote for that.

“Black Swan” takes a bit too long to get going but there is enough dramatic swagger in the lady’s voice to suggest a better arrangement would transform the potential of Astrid’s Tea Party brand of moody and downbeat electro pop.