Song reviews

Bee Bee Sea would seem to be an Italian psych-garage band. I can’t say that I have heard of them before but “Keep It Cool” is a lively song that gets more than a bit theatrical over it two minutes and change running time. Highly enjoyable.

“Boys Club” certainly sounds like an anthem with some downright robust vocals from Jules and the Howl being paired with all the muscular guitars a song might need to pass the rock finishing line. As a bonus, there’s even lyrics with a point.

Quinn Bailey seems to be well versed in the art of wistful introspection as a musical form and her song “A Meadow In The Rain” proves to be rather endearing in a woozy and misty way. Long may she walk in the rain.

Getting her pop sensibilities from the urban r&b sounds of the nineties does Anya Vincent no harm at all and “Catfight” successfully mixes the attitude of today with the vibe of yesteryear before heading off into the night.

There must have been a lot of post punk bands in Glasgow back in the day. Restricted Code were one of those bands and “Book of Angels” proves that they can make the present sound just like the past and still fresh even after all these years.

Almost post punk in intent yet imbued with rather more in the way of style, Deleo demonstrate that they can make a song work as more than mere entertainment. “Assholes and Ashes” has all the attitude it needs to prove that.

Delicate female vocals lead “We All Deserve to Be Beautiful” over a landscape of loops and laconic lyrics which, most likely, have more meaning than purpose. The art is strong in Arc Iris so the cool kids will like this one a lot.

Eriika neatly ploughs the retro synth pop groove with her song “Public Bathroom” but there is, fortunately, more to her than reincarnating the styles of yesterday and her words are worthy of a listen if those loops don’t do it for you.

ABS draws heavily on those time honoured urban beats as many have done before yet her words have a lot more than the expected depth and “Hunting Season” duly presents a commentary on today and can therefore be considered fresh.

Funny how when your hear some songs, you think you have heard them before. “Memories of Fall” is such a song and The Melody Chamber sound like they have fallen out of a time bubble when indie pop and post punk coexisted.

Lighter and fluffier than your average cloud, “Angels Are Crying” shows that Flora Smith can deliver a song that is of the heart, for the heart and from the heart. I don’t usually get sentimental but, if I were to do so, this would be my soundtrack.

NATI walks the commercial path once more with her song “Joan”. She’s in fine voice and her words show a notable degree of maturity in both content and emotion and she duly has little trouble rising above the heavy handed production.