If you like your
barbershop music all laid-back with cool synths then you'll love
Pronto Mama. Love You is somewhere in between Fleetwood Mac's
Albatross and The B-Sharps, and is without a doubt the best song I've
heard all year. One Trick Pony is superb, particularly the half-time
baws-oot at the end. The best EP I've heard since Galchen's The Red
Dot.
It's like The View have
been transported back to the late 50s. The lyrics are a bit mundane
('in a room with superficial fakes') and at times – many times –
lines are stuck together to rhyme just for the sake of it. That
aside, it's not actually a bad pop song. A song written for
festivals, if ever there was one.
Reviewed their recent
single. This EP builds on it however there's so much going on in
instrumental opener Explosions that it's actually a difficult listen.
Thankfully, things really pick up with the atmospheric Older Motion
Pictures and the far rockier Torren. But it's the epic From Time To
Time that really steals the show, its quiet interlude twinkling
towards a mammoth climax.
Happy Particles
Having made it down to the final ten in this years SAY Awards, Happy Particles have decided to give us a wee teaser as to how the follow up record might sounds. They've posted up a free download of the very first demo from the new record that they are just beginning to write, called 'Far Enough Inside'. If this is an indicator of what is to come, then I am sold.
CHURCHES
The prize for the hottest new band in Scotland this week goes to 'mysterious' Glasgow outfit CHURCHES (they even have the hipster friendly band name in capitals thing going on). The band who comprise of two boys and a girl caused a bit of a stooshie recently with the release of their debut single "Lies", which was made available as an exclusive download over on the Neon Gold blog. Rumour has it that the 3 piece are comprised of Iain Cook from The Unwinding Hours, Lauren from Blue Sky Archives and Doc from The Twilight Sad, but hey that could just be speculation (i.e. it is them). All you need to know is that 'Lies' is a cracking wee tune and you can download it for nowt here.
Jesus H Foxx
It's been that long since we last heard anything from Jesus H Foxx, that I had presumed they'd given up the ghost. Way back in 2009, the Edinburgh outfit released their Matter EP on Song, by Toad Records and then they disappeared off to record their debut album. Finally after all this time, Scotland's answer to Guns n Roses 'Chinese Democracy' finally sees the light of day later this month. To get us all in the mood and to remind us that they still exist, Mr Toad has posted up their single, 'So Much Water' for free download. If this tune is anything to go by, then the wait will have been worth it.
Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP
There are certain things in life that just make things better, listening to your favourite records, getting a lie in after having a few too many shandies the night before (this rarely happens with me anymore) and to that pile I would like to add Kowalskiy's series of free monthly EP's. Not only does he make my job a hell of a lot easier when it comes to writing these Friday Freebies posts, but he's also introduced me to a lot of music that a lot of the rest of the Scottish blogosphere seems to overlook. Take for example his most recent EP (#23 no less), in which he's roped in an array of great music, which includes Northern Alliance, Fiction Faction, Letters, Foxhunting and The Beautiful Lies. There are a few bands in there that I have to admit I had never heard of until now, sterling work as always that man. You can read a bit more about all of the bands over on his blog, then download the EP from his Bandcamp page.
Wherehumanseat
Fans of Yahweh and Boards of Canada take note, Wherehumanseat might be right up your street. With whole heap of music available for free download on his Bandcamp page, this Glasgow artist is certainly someone I will be keeping my out for in the future.
Poor Things
Perth's finest sons, Poor Things have posted up a couple of demos for free download on their SoundCloud page.
Drunk Mule
Some of you might remember the days of Kowalskiy's Komplimentary Korner, every week my blogger friend used to give me a tip for the latest freebie he'd stumbled across that week. Now he's got his EP series to keep him busy. Nowadays though, it feels as if I should be allocating the Drunk Mule boys their own weekly slot as they continue to churn out cracking wee tunes that they give away for free. This week is no different as they're giving away another brand new song called "Whisky Breath" for free on their Bandcamp page.
What do you do when you have loads of ace videos to share, you lump them all in one post of course!
First up we have up and coming Edinburgh outfit, Letters and their video for 'Older Motion Pictures', the title track of their debut EP which is out later this month.
In case you somehow managed to avoid all of our plugging, the label that I co-run, Olive Grove Records has emerged from hibernation this week with the release of a new EP from The Son(s). The EP is called Leviathan and here's the video for 'If I Hear You Talk Apostrophes Again..' the most poppy song on it.
Glasgow based punk trio, PAWS are set to put out their first release on Fat Cat Records this month with their Misled Youth EP which comes out on the 14th of May on limited edition cassette. You can catch the boys supporting Bleached at Sleazy's on the 20th of this month.
I don't know about you, but I am pretty damn excited about the forthcoming album from Michael Cassidy. Ever since I was introduced to him by Sean who recorded all of the Peenko Sessions, I have found myself raving on about just how great I think he is. What with recently appearing at WideDays, and forthcoming gigs at goNorth and the next Scottish Fiction Presents gig, it's great to see that I am not the only one who's raving about him. If you don't believe me then check out his new new video for his song Till You.
And to finish off this post I have the new video from Barbarossa for his haunting new number 'Butterfly Plague' which is taken from his forthcoming EP which is the last release in the latest series of Fence Records Chart Ruse E.P. series.
With it's pounding beat and vocoder lines, this soon-to-arrive single from this Edinburgh (Markinch?) mob wouldn't sound out of place in the current top ten. Thick keyboard swells, a chorus you can chant, it has it all. B-side Echoes of Love has an early Killers feel about it (no bad thing) and could just as easily be a single. Excellent, buy it.
I've had this stuck in my head for two days. It's fairly typical guitar-pop, with lyrics about drinking and partying (hardly original, I know) but the social commentary about the general grind at least lifts it out Little Man Tate territory. Nothing ground-breaking musically or lyrically but that's not the point. The point is that it's an utterly fantastic, catchy pop song.
There's an atmospheric and dark side to The Halfway House, but not impenetrably so. It's very listenable, and the anthemic choruses contrast the moody verse well. The song really comes into its own in the last minute or so though, where a simple bass riff, melodic cello and vocalist Mikey Williamson's repeated chant evolve into an epic crescendo. Well worth a listen.
