Song reviews

I’ve always had a failing for girls who decorate their guitars with reverb and Thayer Sarrano was therefore unlikely to disappoint me. Her song “Touch My Face” is moody to the point of bleakness but that surely is the point. I hear her voice even with my eyes closed.

Kind of old school, but in a good way, “I’d Take a Bullet for You” allows Daphne Lee Martin to highlight her ability to do the female singer songwriter thing even if the urban seasoning leads the song out of the suburbia where Carly Simon used to live.

Big of voice and not short of talent, Canada’s Clara Lofaro tells it like it and takes her song “Other Side” for a walk on the confessional side whilst making it another worthwhile addition to your rock solid collection.

Ok, so you will guess that this is an American band within the first four bars of “Big Man Baby” but Plastic Rhino are relentless in their pursuit of the robust rock song and Atara Gottschalk’s energetic vocal performance ensures that her place at the front of the band will never be in doubt.

Initially seeming so fey that irony must have been the true motivation for their song “Vultures” , Delta Mainline then neatly sidestep accusations of insubstantiality with a robust take it to the bridge and make those lighters wave in the air finale. Delta Mainline are the designer dress that you simply have to wear to all those festivals.

“Getting Outta Here” shows that Glasgow band The Burnt Bridges have the fighting spirit in them and, despite an obvious adoration for the three chord mantra of indie rock, they manage to punch above their weight and credit is duly given to the casually aggressive style of singer Mark O’Neil.

Endearingly naturalistic in her approach, Roslyn Moore transcends the awkward electro pop foundations of “Breathless” and makes the song a matter of the heart. All good songs start there.

The Division Men turn up the acoustic atmosphere and inject “Marionette” with just enough of the shadows necessary to put Caroline Rippy Portillo’s voice into the spotlight. Indeed they ramble but it is a good thing that they do.

Adrift in the currents of her own personal sea of melancholy, MaryLeigh Roohan once again makes the confessional melodic and, whilst perhaps not a song with immediate appeal, “My Friends” nonetheless provides all the proof you need that she is a performer possessed of both insight and intelligence.

Kind of old fashioned yet still convincing, Sunshine and The Blue Moon roll with the flow all the way through their song “Lucy”. They’re not quite lava lamp but the good time rock vibe of the past is present and correct for all to hear.

I often worry that I might miss a true parody but, despite the sarcastic application of the musical limitations inherent to bedsit electronica, Sb shows that, with his song “Woman”, he is right up there with the best of them.

Despite claiming to be British folk rock, Pat Nicholson’s song “Come With Me” seems more akin to old school Nashville style country music with all that is musical being efficiently painted in shades of mellow. A song, therefore, that is easy as easy can be on the ear