Song reviews

Seemingly driven by a desire to create atmosphere, Franklin, from deepest Englandshire, fail to notice that they are struggling with a barely serviceable song and yet I feel they deserve credit for gamely stretching “Cold Heart” out to the six minute mark. There’s persistence for you.

“Silence Myself” is a song made up of little more than minimalist electro and attitude. That said, Fable’s emotive approach to the art of singing subsumes the hypnotic simplicity of the song into the conventions of cabaret leaving your ears duly filled with melancholy.

A back to basics song, “Bedsit” proceeds with determination along the post punk trail pausing only at Pete Shelley’s house to load up with some lyrical inspiration. That wry humour serves The Rusbies well however and their beer drinking honesty also shines through. “Bedsit” is, without a doubt, a Friday night song.

If you have six minutes of your time going spare then you could do worse that spend it in the company of Chicago’s Crown Larks. “Blood Mirage” rambles with merciless magnificence, a flagrant disregard for fashion and insolent untidiness on a journey down Manzarek drive towards the inevitable car crash ending. My head hurts like Beefheart and its not even sunrise.

Throwing themselves, with some vigour, backwards into the time of rock ‘n’ roll, Glasgow’s The Black Denims snap their style fingers, slick back their hair and swagger through “Obviously” like a band on a mission. Unless my ears deceive me, they are made of all natural ingredients too with a right on the money horn section keeping these tired ears interested. May the force be with them and, should the force also be with you, the song is available from Bandcamp.

On the surface of it, “How Long Blues” is a traditional blues song but, guided by the voice of the ever enigmatic Sheila K Cameron, it is freed of the dead weight of conventionality and turned instead into the song of a siren. Class is where it is at. The song is available from Bandcamp.

Pleasingly dramatic and yet far more poetic than the mainstream presentation of “Freediver” might at first suggest, Linn Öberg clearly has the soul of an artist. There is, therefore, no doubting the sincerity of her performance.

Showing he has both heart and soul, Jamie Flett uses “Pam” to demonstrate that sensitivity is not just for those with incomplete beards and budget acoustic guitars. The song itself has the kind of vibe that would suggest musical motivations more akin to seventies folk rock than today but that’s not really a bad thing when it comes down to it.

It would seem that everybody has the blues even in Cambodia. “Mama Blue” keeps the faith in the twelve bars whilst adding some vaguely disturbing counterpoints to the gruff lead vocal, namely a somewhat psychotic female voice and what sounds like a kid’s xylophone. Outwardly conventional but actually not, as it were.

“Brown Eyes” is mid paced soft rock song that would have been quickly parlayed into radio airplay back in the day. However today is today and, while it’s a nice enough song, the mix loses Monica Ward’s vocals – surely the epicentre of a song like this – in the murk.

To give them credit, Banana Beach are toughening up. “Antibodies” is a damn sight more purposeful than their previous songs with their Swedish electro pop sound benefitting from a course of musical steroids. A convincing vocal performance leads the song off into the sunset and that is just how it should be.

Old style and none the worse for that, Braggers get out the Ouija board and contact those glorious guitar powered post punk days to get guidance on how to get their song “Better Life” to the end in four minutes flat. No problem, it would seem, as the road is a straight one. Available from Bandcamp.