Song reviews

Few can keep anger going like Smiling Assassin so it is no surprise that “Divide & Conquer” has more punk powered fury in its sub two minute duration than most songs will ever have. This is an extra hot curry pot noodle of a song.

Now here is some intensity! Mind you, you get to expect such a thing from Glasgow steamrollers Outblinker and “Techno Viking” duly engages the thunder and synthesisers in such a manner as to tear down the walls of Jericho.

An Amy Winehouse song gets a respectful cover from ElectroBluesSociety with Karine Roerdink adding enough in the way of worldly yet feline intent to make “You Know I'm No Good” into more than a memory.

A song that lets you just drift away, “More Than Heaven” meanders through your mind with the spiritual intensity inherent to the words and voice of Marina Matiss easily conjuring up the clouds that cover us when we walk in the rain.

Minimalism drenched in reverb pretty much defines Cate Von Csoke’s sound and “Dream Around” ticks all the boxes for fans of such things with that insistent guitar driving her swirling words straight into your head. Twinkle, little star.

Engaging fully with the retro style requirements are About Last Night and the singer has absorbed enough of the eighties power ballad vibe to take their song “Before The Dawn” all the way to the bridge and beyond. Glittery emotions abound.

The power of the sequencer energises “Indigo Sky” yet it is those wistful female vocals that truly entice you to join ISLE on their musical journey. This might be man/woman plus machine but the result is organically pleasing.

If you desire the honesty inherent to rock music of the old school, then you will appreciate “Watery Grave” by Canadian band The Jailbirds with solid guitar riffs and strong vocals easily providing enough buoyancy to keep this song afloat.

No one can deny that Marle Thomson is easy on the ear and her song “Surf Rising” duly drifts amiably through your consciousness on the way to a better tomorrow. This one would make an ideal soundtrack to summer in the city.

“Silver Fingers” by Edinburgh’s The Son(s) is the kind of song that answers the question about what summer bands like The Byrds would have sounded like if they had traded in their jingle jangle guitars for a hit of rainy day melancholy. Hear and understand.

Carla J Easton must have been feeding her synths with steroids and, consequently, has muscled up her pop sensibilities to, in turn, make “Get Lost” into the kind of robust pop song that could crossover to the both the dancefloor and the charts.

Indie rock needs to fully charged to work and Birmingham’s Future Fires clearly have enough in the way of blue collar conviction and power chords to light up their song “Halfway Down”. A song for a Friday night, without a doubt.