Song reviews

Guitars from Glasgow pretty much sums up Haivercraft. They do rock music with less self obsession and more attitude than most which means that they might grow up to be a real rock band. The singer's mid Atlantic drawl on "Are You Free" also suggests that he has plundered his dad's classic rock record collection while the guitarist sounds like he has already taken to wearing leather trousers. A band that is getting in the tour bus mood, perhaps?

With a la la la and a near sociopathic affection for early seventies British pop music, Yorkshire band New Messiahs go large on the hooks and big choruses with "Nobody Wants Me".  You want more than that? Why? This is pop music like it used to be done.

Easy on the ear if somewhat anodyne, Visions Of draw heavily on the ghost of Scotland past as they merge Del Amitri, Big Country and even Franz Ferdinand into two thoughtful and serious songs. "Far Out" comes off best here as "Is This Real" suffers from over familiarity right from the opening riff.

Although seemingly driven by – actually welcome -  nihilism, London band Pistolettos demonstrate a very respectable amount of style to complement the post punk ferocity of  "Clones". "Knights Suck" maintains that attitude but heads off towards hard rock territory right from the get go. A band on the way up, perhaps?

The return of the torch singer continues with the blues flavoured "Alone On The Road" . On this song, Sheila K Cameron shows an almost poetic disregard for cadence and consequently pulls the songs way off towards inner torment but she gets away with it. That, my friends, is the sign of true class.

Finally some proof that there is life in the indie rock genre.  Cambridge band Twelve Clay Feet turn in a thoughtful performance on "Sour Rum" that easily distinguishes them from the pack of Oasis or The View clones that otherwise pollute my ears. Jay Jeff's guitar switches between light and shade as few others do these days with the result having the mark of greatness upon it. Quality!

Louise Ward, formerly of Louise Against the Elements, resurfaces in a new band going by the name of Martha and the Moodies. In "Vancouver", however, she returns not to the power pop of The Elements but to the acoustic urban folk style of another one of her previous incarnations, Captain Howdie, with the result being both subtle and sultry.

Be nice, it says in the accompanying email. That's like saying that they only want shot in the leg. Well here goes…This Motherwell rock band sound like they have a robot drummer and are hampered by mundane lyrics but the guitars are actually interesting and the singer sounds like he only comes out at night. Fortunately for them, the latter two items are the most important things for a good rock band to have. Of the songs, "The Unknown Soldier" is easily the better but a visit from Mr Sheen could save them both.

Seems like there is but one name behind LCF and that is Luke Frazier. An American it would seem, he follows the path of the sensitive singer songwriter on both "Acoustic Sunshine Girl" and "Zodiac Eyes" with the latter capturing that psychedelic pop vibe quite nicely if somewhat crudely.

Another addition to the legion of rock bands hailing from the Glasgow area, Tobias deliver what you might expect. "4 In The Morning", for example, draws inspiration from Oasis as so many do. "Second Chance" raises the bar and should find favour with those you who still worship at the altar of seventies melodic rock.

"A Way To Pass The Time" turns out to be a wry, upbeat and surprisingly commercial slice of indie rock that sounds like it was played by musicians rather than the usual pretty boys who like to go loud. Although I am obviously too cool to actually do such a thing, I very nearly started singing along to this song and that's got to be a good omen for this band.

I have always been curious as to what happens musically in other countries. So my curiosity was duly sated with "Weariness" from Sergey Rybytskyy who hails from the Ukraine. Not so much instrumental progressive rock as an entertainingly sleazy impersonation of Rick Wakeman doing loungecore on the cheap, this song works better than you might have imagined from my description.