Singles
The Amateurs: Homesick EP
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Friday, 20, Mar 2009 11:01
It can be a jungle out there when you're looking for new music, however, this week's batch of singles releases including the Amateurs, KIG and the Asteroids Galaxy Tour might provide a solution.
Single of the Week
The Amateurs: Homesick EP
The Animal Farm; out now
Brilliantly rousing guitar-pop with echoes of Bruce Hornsby and the Range and Coldplay.
The Amateurs, winners of Kerrang! Radio's best unsigned song 2007, started out performing with Robert Plant on his Tsunami Relief project in 2005.
They recorded their first EP a year later, reaching the final of the Emergenza Unsigned festival at the Astoria 2 in London.
In 2007 they returned to the studio to record Shoot Me Now, which won them the aforementioned Kerrang! Radio title.
After moving to London, the Amateurs teamed up with producers the Animal Farm, to work on the Homesick EP.
The lead track of which is emotive and full of soaring vocals from Matthew Colley.
Track two is the crunchy, Fray-esque good time vibe of London Sky which sees sublime drumming from Jim Holliday ably complimenting Colley's voice.
But we shouldn't ignore the spot-on guitar and bass supplied by Rich Oliver and Andrew Fletcher.
Mystery Thing wraps up the EP with a swirling and affecting upbeat ballad underscored by nifty piano work from vocalist Matthew Colley.
Catch the brilliant Amateurs at the Perfect 5th in Taunton on April 9th and the Shooting Star in London on April 24th.
Noisettes: Don't Upset The Rhythm
Vertigo; out now
Two years on from the punky-blues of their debut album, London trio Noisettes are back with a jazzy disco stomper in Don't Upset The Rhythm.
The song's getting major airplay and is featured as part of the latest advertising campaign for car company Mazda.
Shame the track's tedious to the extreme.
The Kills: Black Balloon EP
Domino; out now
Slow-burning, moody and rather pretentious.
Animal Collective: My Girls
Domino; out now
This tries hard to be space rock with an electro edge and ends up being dreary background noise instead.
Funeral For A Friend: Rules And Games
Join Us Records; out now
The Welsh outfit hit you right between the eyes while massaging your ears with a cracking slice of melodic rock lifted from their album Memory And Humanity.
Flo Rida feat Kesha: Right Round
Atlantic; out now
Sampling the Dead Or Alive classic You Spin Me Round, Flo Rida rips it up with a nifty dancefloor crossover.
This infectious number is the first single from Rida's forthcoming album Routes Of Overcoming The Struggle, out next month.
The Gaslight Anthem: Great Expectations
SideOneDummy Records; out now
New Jersey's finest return with the driving oomph of Great Expectations which mixes Springsteen and the Pogues to superb effect.
Great Expectations is from the Gaslight Anthem's sophomore album The '59 Sound.
The Chemists: Hear Our Song
Distiller Records; out now
Guitar pop from this Bristol five-piece that is functional rather than memorable.
Eslam Jawaad: Pivot Widdit
Eslamaphobic; out now
I wanted to like this, I really did.
It's got a sizzling slow groove and lovely Arabic touches but all too soon it becomes a by-the-numbers club track.
Dananananakroyd: Black Wax
Best Before Records; out now
Brimming with cheeky Britpop energy and melody, this is the soundtrack for spring 2009.
Emma Deigman: It Was You
Storm Records; out now
This sultry-voiced 20-year-old knows how to skilfully blend 70s soul, sexy old-skool big-time jazz-funk and timeless pop into one unforgettable bundle that has hit written all over it.
And she's got some big name admirers, too. Bryan Adams turned up at one of her recent gigs.
Gary Barlow declared himself a big fan and Rod Stewart, on hearing a smattering of her tracks, offered to help her crack the US.
Do yourself a favour and catch this rising star at the Fly in London on April 6th.
KIG: Head, Shoulders Knees N Toes
AATW/Island Records; out March 23rd
Already a massive club and underground hit, this track is unintentionally funny, as if the Mighty Boosh decided to spoof the grime/urban sound.
Despite the inherently comedic feel to the song, it's getting substantial airplay on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Kiss.
I can imagine the likes of George Lamb and his half-baked posse dancing manically to the track via a webcam.
And you'll be humming it within minutes of hearing the hypnotic beat provided by Hitty, Creeper and Mr Bubbly otherwise known as Hackney collective KIG.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour: The Sun Ain't Shining No More
Small Giant Records; out now
Retro-styled goodness from the Danish hipsters that would give the B-52s and V V Brown a run for their money.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour have drawn plaudits from Jo Whiley, Jonathan Ross and Dermot O'Leary and their debut album Fruit is out next month.
The infectious track delivers kooky vocals from Mette Lindberg and lashings of oft-kilter creativity from Lars Iversen.
The new single also boasts a top-drawer brass section featuring trumpeter Miloud Carl Sabri, who played with the world renowned Buena Vista Social Club in 1999.
Sneaky Sound System: I Love It
14th Floor Records; out now
Aussie outfit Sneaky Sound System fly the flag for the ongoing 80s revival with this sumptuous floor-filler that could have been released in 1984.
In their native Oz, I Love It kept Sneaky Sound System in the charts for a staggering 73 weeks.
If the original version, the opening track on the single, transports you to a dreamscape of dayglo leg warmers and powder blue Miami Vice suits then the Fred Falke remix will send you into a blissed-out 80s nirvana.
Track four is the Stock Aitken Waterman goes Moroder remix by Beni that conjures up the chrome and neon clubs of the mid-80s.
Here in the UK, I Love It is the follow-up to the Radio 1 B-listed UFO.
Back in Australia, the band's new album, entitled 2, has gone triple platinum, spawning four hit singles.
Flashguns: Locarno
Blue Flowers Records; out now
Vaguely depressing pop from Flashguns recorded at the famous Olympic studios which has seen the Rolling Stones and Oasis lay down tracks within its' hallowed halls.
Two Door Cinema Club: Something Good Can Work
Abeano, out now
The debut single from this perky Irish three-piece slots comfortably into today's wave of 80s revivalism.
However, Two Door Cinema Club exude a vitality and wit that will allow them to transcend the cloying fog of nostalgia.
The Gentlemen: Sending Cards
The Stereo Tree; out now
By-the-numbers guitar pop that smells horribly of misguided admiration for shouty no-hopers Scouting For Girls.
Thecocknbullkid: I'm Not Sorry
Moshi Singles Club; out now
This is the follow-up to On My Own from twentysomething Anita Blay and we're firmly in 80s mode here.
I'm sorry but I heard enough of this syntho-electro pap back in the actual 80s, hearing it in a regurgitated form 20 years on is too much to stomach.
As is the mockney/street wannabe dross of B-side There's A Mother In Our Bed.
Did someone let a foulmouthed and talentless Remi Nicole clone in here?
Looking Ahead.
Fightstar: Mercury Summer
Search And Destroy Records; out April 6th
Mercury Summer, a slab of rock-lite, is the latest single from Fightstar.
It's an okay track, ticking all the requisite boxes but there's a whiff of 'product' and callous marketing about it that makes me feel a bit queasy.
The song is on the Radio 1 playlist and commenting on Mercury Summer, Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson said: "The inspiration came from one of our favourite films of all time, the Shawshank Redemption.
"And of the character Andy Defrain's dreams of reaching his paradise, Zihautanejo.
"At the base of it, it's really just a love song but it interprets the story of a couple on a journey to find their own nirvana away from from all the consumerist bull**** that surrounds us."
Lee Davis