Song reviews

A damn sight cleverer than its diffident twee pop presentation would suggest, “Stranger I know” makes for a fine introduction to the introspective melancholia of Liam Singer.  The song has the simplest of sequenced melodies and yet Mr Singer manages to layer on enough heart and soul to make an admirably intelligent sonic confection.

Now verging on being venerable, the Circus Devils show the benefits of maturity here with “All The Good Ones Are Gone” running along very nicely with only voice and piano as propulsion. There’s a bit of a Bowie seventies style feel to the performance in there too which is just fine by me.

“Borstal Boy” sounds less like a single than it does a songwriter demo. There’s no doubting the quality of that song writing but the male vocals are sadly lacking in impact. A finished version might well be of interest to Paul Weller fans though.

Another escapee from the indie pop breeding ground that is Sweden, Seaweed Meadows run close to the middle of the road with “Ruins”. There’s a melody you can hum, there’s emotive lead vocals and there’s even a chorus and that makes the end result eminently likeable.

Brighton band I Like The Go Go go two up two down on that classic fifties reverb and fuzz sound.  “To The Sea” stumbles, fumbles and rumbles along like a song looking for a fight, another bottle of cheap cider and a kebab before it goes home with the nearest  psycho blonde. Definitely not the British beach boys in other words.

Don’t know much about this band but they seem to have sprung up from the great British tradition of guitar led rock bands. “Waiting” rolls along nicely and, whilst not springing any surprises, comes across as an honest performance by an honest band with the spirited lead vocals supplying the proverbial cherry on the cake.

Barring the tired sound bite serving as an intro, “If This River Was Whiskey” makes for a good introduction to Cornelius The Third. All you really get is a spirited rap over a looped bit of blues guitar but he puts his heart into to it and that makes all the difference. If our Cornelius were to get a substance abuse problem then he could potentially rival underground heroes like NNMaddox.

Although part of a cunning plan to release twelve singles in a year, “No Regrets” is not really a single – in the sense of the song having any commercial viability or purpose – at all. It is just another example of a sensitive singer songwriter showing us all just how sensitive he is by piling on the melancholy. Distinctly dull.

OK, so David Bayles pulls practically all his sonic influences from bigger and more successful bands but evident care and attention has gone into “Snow Angel” with the end result being something even your granny would like.  Nicely poetic lyrics too.

London four piece art pop band Cop On The Edge have released this song, “Signs of Life”, ahead of the EP from whence it will come. It’s a jaunty – there’s a word I haven’t used for a while – song that has all those nice little touches like hooks and choruses that a lot of bands forget about these days. Even the rather obvious retro Talking Heads influences enhance rather than distract.

Pleasingly over emotive, in the Morrissey style, vocals by Thomas David lifts “Lowlands” far above its Glasgow eighties guitar pop roots and takes the song soaring off into near cabaret. The result is, of course, pretentious but it is also undeniably a performance.

A sensitive singer songwriter with some obvious sonic ambition, Silent Sleep attempts to escape Liverpool with this stateless wanderer. “We’ve Fallen Out Again” is likeable and amiably aimless but lacks any real sparkle although the trumpet solo did suggest that Silent Sleep is somewhat ashamed to admit to his Britpop influences.