Song reviews

“The Fulfillers” needs a couple of listens before you truly appreciate it. After a lumpy looped start and a stumbling first verse, the song then positively soars with an emotional female lead vocal and a trumpet taking it off towards the clouds. I like a song with ambition.

That good time fifties r ‘n’ b sound gets revived, in a most respectful manner by Si Cranstoun. “Coupe De Ville” makes all the right noises for the retro crowd and is distinguished by our Mr Cranstoun’s confident and convincing vocals. One to make the cool cats happy.

Messed up Italian indie rockers start off all three chords and normal but then twist “Friction” into psychedelic distortion, a middle eight of proper rock riffs and some general weirdness. Inspired and more imaginative than the norm, Cardiophobia prove themselves to be a band with a clear purpose.

Leeds band The World Service run all sweet and melodic with “Katherine” as they exhume Donovan and C86 influences for one more ear pleasing run through the history of pop. It’s the kind of song that makes you want to wear a cardigan and look dreadfully intense whilst your iPod gently weeps.

“Butterfly” is about as commercial as you can get in the super safe world of Nashville country and Lizzie Sider – at a mere 14 years old – seems determined to use it to kickstart a career in da bizness. She has the attitude to get the job done but, given her tender years, it is perhaps unsurprising that she lacks the individuality that will stamp her indelibly in the memory of record buyers.

Nashville country is hardly deprived of big voiced female singers telling it like it but Carrie Zaruba nonetheless sets out to make her mark with “Woman on a Mission”. The song has that confident yet still girl next door Shania Twain type vibe and a by the numbers production elevated only by some energetic fiddle playing. Undeniably, the end result is very truckstop waitress friendly, if you know what I mean.

“Hospital” is a moody and bleak song that walks the line between ambient and post rock quite successfully. I’m not entirely convinced by the male vocals but they fit into place nicely. It would appear that Hospital Neon is an alias for the underrated PNDC so those of you in the know will appreciate what you are getting here.

“Ithaca” is a rather endearing bot of retro style synth pop that would surely have dented the charts if it had been released twenty years ago and would no doubt have put this London band on the trail of Depeche Mode if it had. Unfortunately, today is today but this song nonetheless has an appealing innocence in its favour.

There’s a bit of everything in “Mountains Define You”. There are smoky vocals, a Scottish indie pop jangle to the guitars, a harmonica solo and an overwhelming sense of the getting out of the dustbowl and into the city decorating the lyrics.  You could almost call it country if it were not for the knowing quirkiness of it all. I’m sold on this one.

“Dodos” turns out to be a mid paced and surprisingly mainstream rocker from this Glasgow band. Not that I’m complaining as it sounds professional and radio friendly without being obviously commercial and that, my friends, is usually the mark of true quality.

New Edinburgh band Very Well take the Idlewild road with “Dead Happy”. What you get is a melodic, vaguely retro, song that sounds more expensive than it should and is further distinguished by Daniel Abercrombie’s confident vocal. However, I am once again forced to comment on the lack of decent guitarists in dear old Scotland even if the end result was actually easy on the ear.

Leeds band doing a bit of old time indie pop. Little Victories’ song “Staring at The Ground“ might not stray far from the expected but they nonetheless manage to bring both warmth and bit of subtlety to its execution with the end result being quite endearing in its own way.