Song reviews

Help me Jesus! The eighties have finally reached Australia with the proof being the enigmatically named “1 2 3 Faux Leopard” from Circle. There’s a decent vocal in there but the locked in lumpy circles (ha!) plastic backing track lets the side down badly. Rocking like it is 1984 (but, like, in Switzerland).

Whilst they don’t seem to be trying anything particularly radical during the course of “Slow Motion”, Alberta manage to sound remarkably convincing as if they had been downloaded from more truthful times. A nice touch of melancholy seasons the male singer’s voice too.

A singer songwriter from the UK it would seem,  Arron Brown treads lightly through “Stargazing” as if scared of attracting a beating from the school bullies but is nearly overpowered by the laptop in a loop backing track anyway. Kind of sweet even if our Arron seems unsure what he is trying to achieve.

Upbeat Swedish rock band with a convincing melodic feel and more than a tip of the hat to late seventies Rolling Stones in style. “Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea” sounds like the kind of song that they don’t make any more and is none the worse for that. Your aunt will love it.

A mid paced display of lightweight but poetic sensitivity, “What If” leaves plenty of space for the melancholic male vocals to shine through. Nice enough but there are many many more like it, as they say.

Offbeat and displaced male vocals ride a lo-fi looped bit of reasonably convincing of plastic coated indie rock. However, you do get the feeling that the band are missing a guitarist but, that said, the lyrics do suggest a lot more intelligence than the laptop in a frenzy backing track would otherwise have you believe.

It would appear that bedsit electronica exists even in Cornwall and Sister Savage is the proof. Perhaps that physical separation from the big city makes all the difference as “Stars Fall Like Leaves” floats upon an ethereal cloud that showers you with folk inspired, gently persuasive female vocals. Really rather beautiful..

Stomping four on the floor electro rock from, I assume, a German band. Squeezing in an ironic one chord at a time guitar solo in as a counterpoint to the three chord riffing, Mont Go set up “Seelenleer” and send it off to invade neighbouring dance floors. Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh as I did want to bang my head off a wall as this song stomped all over my brain.

Once more into the pit of melancholy as Gus By Heart makes his heart bleed in the “The Last Place” and, like too many such practitioners of beard scratching, going all deep and serious did not add significantly to his appeal. Bit of a shame as the song has potential and would suit a proper rock band a lot better.

If you happen to be looking for a pleasingly breezy electro pop experience then “Now Now Now” by French band The Penelopes could well be just what the doctor ordered with the entwined male and female voices adding a soupçon of laconically Gallic charm to the perfect Renault Clio soundtrack.

“Keep It Comin’” is about as solid as a rock song from an absolutely solid rock band from dear old Englandshire can be. The drumming is solid, the riffs are solid, the chorus is big and solid and the vocals are, once more for those in the cheap seats, rock solid. You could build a house on top this song with no fear of it ever collapsing.  Best enjoyed at ridiculous volume.

“Deserts” is the kind of song that counts as commercial these days. Or at least it does if you have not been brainwashed by Saturday night talentless contests. With this song, Lizzie and The Yes Men demonstrate that they have the attitude and the reverb to lift themselves clear of lesser, melody free, indie rockers. Methinks many will feel the urge to sing along with this one.