Song reviews


  I Created by Abscondo


I Created cover art


Euro fluff

Earnest to the point of being well intentioned, “I Created” provides more than enough evidence that Abscondo have mastered the art of being anodyne. An inoffensive and eminently forgettable song.


Review date: 
  www.abscondoband.com

  2 by Paradigm


2 cover art


Alt-rock

It would appear that “2” is the first single from a new rock band called Paradigm. They manage to go commendably large on the chorus but the rest of the song drags by in extended repetition mode. Editing a couple of minutes out of this five minute plus song would prove beneficial to all concerned.


Review date: 
  soundcloud.com/paradigm-ni

  Road to Salvation by Vlad T


Road to Salvation cover art


Downbeat blues

“Road to Salvation” is a straight down the line blues song with some smoke filled vocals providing the urban melancholy that sells the lyrics. Not the most original song that you will hear this week but nicely performed nonetheless.


Review date: 
 

  Alan Smithee by Alansmithee


Alan Smithee cover art


Looking behind

Imagine calling your song after your band? Alansmithee nearly manage to do that with their single “Alan Smithee” but the drifting psych-rock groove suggests that the musical motivation may have been a chemically powered mind expanding moment. The guitar engine gets revved erratically towards the end just before the song heroically and untidily collapses. Yesterday is, once more, the new today.


Review date: 
  facebook.com/alansmithee.fb

  Dreams by Kick to Kill


Dreams cover art


Glasgow scenesters

You can’t beat that melting pot of time travelling musical influences that powers Glasgow scenesters Kick To Kill on their journey down life’s urban highway. “Dreams” postures in an emotionally meaningful way but click those electro powered heels three times and you’ll be in eighties, mascara for everyone, territory before you know it.


Review date: 
  facebook.com/kicktokill

  Revenge of Icarus by Feet of Clay


Revenge of Icarus cover art


Making a move

Feet of Clay, who are from Coatbridge, are certainly not short of energy and “Revenge of Icarus” is evidence of that with some truly spirited guitar work providing the source of the momentum that drives the song along the rock track towards beer drinking nirvana. Not bad at all.


Review date: 
  on.fb.me/1ob0vTL

  Up To Me by Zoe Louk


Up To Me cover art


New singer on the block

Earnest if conventional in her approach, Zoe Louk smartly turns up the emotion to compensate and consequently turns “Up To Me” into the kind of honest ballad that should find a friend or four in mainstream radio.


Review date: 
  www.zoelouk.com

  Wear it Thin by Zouaves


Wear it Thin cover art


Portland rock

There’s a thin line between respectful and derivative in the big bad world of rock music and Zouaves walk that line with “Wear It Thin”. They have the energy right but they still sound too much like their influences for their own long term good.


  Black Magic by Luna Green


Black Magic cover art


Singing strongly

“Black Magic” is kind of old fashioned in its approach but that is not to the song’s disadvantage as Luna Green’s affected vocals are never less than appealing and the song is, when all is said and done, nothing less than a pop song of the old school.


  Let Us Stay in the Light by Dream Lake


Let Us Stay in the Light cover art


Swedish electropop

Girlish vocals reinforce the innocent vibe that powers “Let Us Stay in the Light” and allows it to float like a fluffy cloud over the eighties style locked to the loop backing track. This is the kind of song that they use as the soundtrack to a montage in an American television drama.


  Tides by Freddy and the Medicines


Tides cover art


Cruise ship crooners

Middle of the road seems to be the course that Freddy and The Medicines are steering with “Tides” being the kind of earnest duet that might best be used to sell life insurance or pension plans. The song is a professional piece of work in other words and will undoubtedly make more money than anything else that I have heard this week.


Review date: 
 

  Bigger Than Ron Jeremy by Bruce Thunderbollocks & The Groove


Bigger Than Ron Jeremy cover art


Porn revival

I don’t know what I did to deserve this honour but here we are and “Bigger Than Ron Jeremy” is the work of – apparently anyway – a former porn star from the seventies. Bruce Thunderbollocks is indeed the kind of name that you would expect a porn star of the seventies to use should he ever release an old style mirror ball funk workout that features the kind of lyrical bravado that you don’t see outside of gangsta these days. The song therefore does not disappoint on that level and it might just be the best song of the week. Or not. Probably not.


Review date: 
  bit.ly/thunderbollocks


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