Song reviews

Apparently two brothers from Sweden, Saintway sound more like the product of an overdose of anodyne American folk rock influences and “It’s Over Now” thus bears comparison with any Fleet Foxes’ song that you might care to think of. The song is, however, nicely performed and produced.

It has to be said that proper hard rock never seems to go out of fashion and North Carolina band A Course Of Action prove just that with their song “Tell Me Why”. A Course of Action are as much of now as they are of twenty years ago but you can’t go wrong with riffing guitars and emotive lead vocals. I suspect that this is the kind of band that would step on your head if they found out you owned a man bag.

“Give Me My Diamonds”, as a song, is in need of a good polish or, to use the technical term, a remix. Demi Davis makes for a convincing urban robodoll but her rather rough vocal performance detracts from what could have been an uptown dance floor meditation on materialism.

Full of bad attitude, Silver Loves Mercury bitch their way through the evils of competitive fashion in best hard rock style and, in the process, they season “D.M.T.U. Girl” with maximum riffs and a (probably) unhealthy amount of sleaze. The singer is called Roxi but I bet you had already guessed that. Time to turn it up to the max.

Brutally synthetic, Johnytiger escapes the dance floor and heads for the Grand Theft auto highway with “++(Crosses)”. The synthpop melody is all but usurped by the all consuming robotic aggression that provides the driving force for this song so the best advice is to play it loud and remember to wear your seatbelt.

The ever reliable Matt Norris & The Moon draw heavily on the wholesome for inspiration and “The Anchor” seems therefore destined to lower the cholesterol of all who care to listen to it. In other words, it’s a nicely polished slice of Scottish folk rock cake made all the more acceptable by some positively flighty flute.

Club friendly – although it would still benefit from a remix – “Time To Shine” shows that The Penelopes can add a soupçon of French style to that never say die European electro groove. As the night people might say, this song will last until the sun rises.

With reverb and a certain late night sophistication clearly evident, Sweden’s Luna Green elevates her song “Swedish Strawberries” into something both urban and ethereal at the same time. Music for grownups without a doubt.

Rather better than your average ska/rock hybrid band, London’s Mocara throw youthful enthusiasm in to enliven their lurching and strutting song “Beg, Steal or Borrow”. This is actually rather good with plenty of attitude on show and I would imagine that this band might also make for a rewarding live attraction.

Damn, I’m going back in time or at least it seems that way as Junebug go all seventies folk meet mainstream rock with “You & I”. Don’t get me wrong – this a wholesome song that rolls with a sense of purpose that many bands lack and, with some determined female vocals forever pushing the song forwards, this might well be a Glasgow band that could go the distance.

What can a man say about HM Hammarin? He goes all theatrical throughout “In Insanity” to such an extent that you are drawn to wonder if you missed the stage show. Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe we have found a genuine entertainer.

More urban sounds from Gwen and The Good Thing and “Heat Wave” is a by the numbers bit of looped until lifeless backbeat topped by Gwenann Taylor’s overdosed on vibrato voice. That said, she doesn’t sound like anyone else doing the rounds and that is actually a good thing in my book.