Song reviews

Girls with guitars always go down well with me and Eliza Jaye is no exception. “Big Tin Heart” treads the commercial rock path with surefootedness and a well developed sense of what counts as an influence as opposed to what counts as reinventing the past.  Just the thing to play in the car, I would say.

OK, this one is downright weird. I’d even go as far as to say that “Correction Number Three” walks past the wild side, sprints past avant-garde and ends up in some sort of parallel universe where minimalism has imprisoned melody. The song even manages to sound familiar – too much classical music in my youth often leads to this conclusion – whilst still being weird. I suspect there may be a truly twisted mind behind this one.

Contrary to its title, “Aggressively Stupid” is neither a stupid nor an aggressive song and, indeed, it leaves the impression that indie music in New Jersey is quite a restrained Weezer influenced thing if Slow Buildings are to be taken as representative. I assume that this is a demo as the directionless nature of the production and arrangements causes the song to drag noticeably.

Getting to be something of a regular on these pages are Glasgow band The Skunnered. “Raintown” highlights their smooth soft rock sound again in what might well be taken as a pastiche of that wholesome Deacon Blue approach to making adults sway in the breeze. Spark up that lighter now!

Big chested rock sounds from Finnish band Kickstart Rockers.  “When I Saw You” draws from eighties rock with the sensitive start, the chopping riffs and  the big Kiss style chorus all present and correct. Originality might not be this band’s strongpoint on the evidence of this song but the lead vocals are never less than convincing.

They might well be from Nottinghamshire but aspiring  rock band Desensitised sound altogether more American with Nirvana style riffs keeping “What I Was Thinking” from staying on this side of the pond while singer Charlotte goes all Evanescence just to reinforce that a transatlantic journey is on the cards. So, definite mainstream appeal and that might just be all they need to get by.

A prelude to an album of the same name it would seem, “Is Anybody Home?” is a lightweight, sparely arranged instrumental song that could best be described as organic. Handclaps drive the acoustic mood along nicely even it is more background than foreground listening.

Not many smiles here with “Love Grows” reflecting on the randomness of relationships whilst pseudo Postcard guitars keep the dour vocals company. Only the drummer sounds like he – sexist assumption but I bet I am right - is a stranger to Prozac but a wee restructure by, say, making the chorus sound like it is a chorus could make all the difference to Vanetta Valls and their chances of success with this one.

Damn, this one is smooth. I thought that the days of cocktail jazz had long gone but not, it seems, if you are Italian. Silvia Anglani puts not a, no doubt designer shod, foot wrong throughout “Odio Decembre” with the kind of confident and eloquent vocal performance that just reeks of class. Naturally, there is sax in abundance too.

“Cold Sweat” is a simple song but I suppose that it all you really need in these attention deficit days. However, this London based melodic indie rock band do sell it with some gusto but whether that is enough to make them stand out from the crowd remains to be seen.

“Nothing Wrong with Being Wrong” provides adequate proof that there is nothing wrong with being a Glasgow indie popster even in these days of cardigan wearing oversupply. Although politely performed and roughly recorded, the song nonetheless has an endearing, non-threatening quality to it but it is Nicola Rainey’s here there and everywhere vocal that saves the day and lifts the song above grey mediocrity.  For once, practice is all that will be needed to make this one perfect.

Bar-L is one Her Majesty’s holiday camps, in case you were wondering, so credit is due to The Skunnered for using it as a somewhat unusual inspiration for a song. Wry lyrics that would be Americana if this were Travis County instead of dear old Glasgow town carry this song along in a way that Ray Davies would surely approve of and I have to admit that I was soon singing the Bar-L Blues myself.