Song reviews

Retro time again with heavily sequenced eighties electro rock getting resurrected by Portland band Endless Loop. “Uniform” works out pretty well for them with appealing girl (Samantha Hughes) boy (Jeff Knight) voices emoting suitably bleak and disaffected words.  The past might well be their future.

Italians just have more style. It’s a simple fact and “La Processione” provides ample proof of that. It is nothing more than indie rock but nonetheless swaggers mercilessly under the weight of its inherent refrigerator coolness with Luigi Bruno’s vocals talking the talk while the rest of the band walk the walk. Almost as good as a Fiat Dino Coupé.

Though they appear to hail from Edinburgh, Who’s Edna sound more than a bit mainstream American reminding me here of bands like The Hush Sound.  “Hellbent” uses a piano to good effect to lift this mid paced rock song out of the mire of mediocrity and there is endearing normality – for want of a better word – to the female vocals.

In its favour, “The Human Connection” is a decent song and the lead vocal is convincing. That said, and this is a common failing in Scottish rock bands, Sonic Templars then trip themselves up with an unimaginative guitar player – I’d go so far as to say that he (?) sounds (badly) looped – and a lack of individuality to their sound.  They need to try harder, basically.

Despite being a band of actual brothers, Ded Rabbit don’t really seem to gel. That said, “Elm Row” has an endearingly funky feel to it and “We Could Be Free” is (indie) rockier but similarly good natured. The bigger problem, however, is the singer who struggles badly with the key he is trying to sing in on both these songs.

Even the title suggests that this will be an upmarket tune and “Anemone” is indeed used as an educated rhyme for "…not your enemy”. Otherwise, this keyboard driven and somewhat world weary song reeks of smoking jackets and Noel Coward which is a good thing, by the way.

A nice slice of non-threatening mid-paced housewife-friendly pop from a London based duo. “Always Yours” is a bit dated in its production and goes on a good minute and a half longer than it needs to but at least there is plenty of heart in the vocals.

If you follow horse racing then you know it is all in the breeding. So it is perhaps no surprise that Scary Shapes - born of The Hussys and The Ten To Five Project it would seem - drive "Chatter" onwards and upwards with melodies and the constant use of chorus. "Common Sense" seems rather more mature and substitutes a bleak lyrical sensibility for singalongability and consequently provides proof that Scary Shapes can stand out from the crowd. Now, if I were a betting man…

"Sometimes" sounds just like the kind of song that a midrange Scottish band should release if it wants to court success. Driven on by guitars and inoffensively clever, Calm As The Colour have taken the safe route here but it is nonetheless a shame that they did not try a bit harder to stand out from the crowd. That said, I can see people liking this one. It's a lentil soup kind of thing.

The affection that Finnish band Mindeyes have for that polished to perfection rock that existed in the eighties is clearly evident in "Matter of Time" with the prerequisite impassioned vocals and obligatory extended guitar solo present and correct. "Gloria" takes the band convincingly into power ballad territory and, with the inevitable aid of a time machine, could easily have made them the soundtrack to a montage in Miami Vice. Almost as cool as Crockett and Tubbs combined.

Another song too good to be a demo so I must assume that this got misdirected into the pile of debris that normally comprises the Demo Corner. “Come Down” is the kind of mature song that they don’t seem to write anymore and is more akin to what you expect of a band of the cusp of folk and rock way back in the seventies with Ms Jemmett’s voice mixing maturity with an endearing vulnerability. Too good to be a demo and, in all likelihood, too good for these times.

Singer songwriter time again. End of Neil – the trading name for Stirling songwriter Neil Stewart – does on occasion demonstrate a wry and laconic way with words, as he does with “Forget The Afternoon”, but otherwise founders on the sands of the inane, as with “I Was A Guitar”.  One day someone is going to explain to me why so many performers aim to be the next Mr Average.