In a 2010 interview they said their influences were […]]]>

It is good to hear bands that carry a pile of influences with a level of technical madness across several genres. The three-piece sound like a time-warped early XTC learned in hardcore and African rock reissues instead of punk and Farfisa organ rock. Fair Ohs’ slew of percussive rhythms and high energy guitar work drive an expansive attempt to diversify their sound – their energy is infectious to say the least

In a 2010 interview they said their influences were Paul Simon, African music, and the hardcore ethos – and it does feel like they built Jungle Cats around that foundation. This is a focused effort where intricate guitar runs collide with frantic bursts of vocals and atmospheric breaks throughout. The staccato hits, fiddly riffs and larger-than-life presence on Mountain Bombs is a prime example of the band’s frenetic yet focused direction.

Detractors may feel like the UK trio sounds like a late 00′s Brooklyn band playing with African rhythms and vocal chants plugged into jagged indie rock. Yet Fair Ohs brings a vitality to their scattershot brand of lively guitar and rhythm workouts—crafting a strong entry as a band playing what they love.

-Justin Strazdas-

The opening Dry Range intro is only 26 seconds long, (intros and outros are now becoming a habit of Hooded Fang’s) but […]]]>

Gravez, sticks with the light-hearted, simple vintage rock and roll ethos we heard on the Canadian band’s 2011 album Tosta Mista – but sharpens it with a new-found punk edge. It shifts the momentum of the record up a gear – yet still manages to sound like a Summertime freefall – even when delving into darker lyrical territory.

The opening Dry Range intro is only 26 seconds long, (intros and outros are now becoming a habit of Hooded Fang’s) but acts as some sort of calm before the storm that is Graves. Rumbling bass launches head on into an almost metal guitar thrash, yet singer Dan’s vocals soften the blow somewhat – lyrics of paranoia have never sounded so ecstatic. The pace slows down a little for Bye Bye Land, which despite talking of flesh being torn apart, could well be the soundtrack to a hazy stoned afternoon on the beach. Wasteland opens with a brilliant tropical guitar riff that revels in lo-fi glory, while Trasher leans towards the more nonsensical with its lyrics of Martian lands.

More than all that though, what makes the new record such a success is that, despite approaching some pretty shady subject matters, it is simply great fun to listen to. Hooded Fang have perfected this over their past two records, and Gravez is the result. It’s the sound of defeating dark issues with nonsense, and having a great time while doing it.

-Will Moss-

Her press release hints at “major shifts in her personal life,” and she mentions in a recent interview her divorce from ex-member Jeremiah Haywood—who played drums and helped record 2011s Human Culture. Although she has developed as a songwriter […]]]>

Vancouver-based gloomy synth-pop artist Nikki Nevver is a self-described bedroom musician. Though her first two full-lengths contain some studio production and live drums, All This Time ditched such luxuries for some glassy, 80s-influenced goth-pop production that ultimately sounds dry and suitably lo-fi.

Her press release hints at “major shifts in her personal life,” and she mentions in a recent interview her divorce from ex-member Jeremiah Haywood—who played drums and helped record 2011s Human Culture. Although she has developed as a songwriter through relentless recording, she decided to tackle the recording process on her own.

Her emotional voice has more clarity here than her previous work, with lyrics that are personal, haunting, and refreshingly human. The piano, drums, and analog synth strings meanwhile dominate the instrumentation – their DIY production adds an effective weariness to the record.

Nevver is a compelling singer and writer, who overcame changes in her personal life while releasing three albums in three years, and recently beginning her fourth European tour. That is remarkable considering how many small label bedroom artists would collapse under similar circumstances.

-Justin Strazdas-

With lyrics and vocals definitely the main focus of the record, Other Life opens with She Looks Like You and the kind of early hours fondness for melancholy associated with The Blue Nile, if The Blue Nile were fronted by Cyndi Lauper that is. “And […]]]>

Montreal based musician Sean Nicholas Savage is back with his new (and ninth in four years!!) album Other Life, and this time round he, of the upper lip plumage, is taking the smooth RnB highway.

With lyrics and vocals definitely the main focus of the record, Other Life opens with She Looks Like You and the kind of early hours fondness for melancholy associated with The Blue Nile, if The Blue Nile were fronted by Cyndi Lauper that is. “And these days I feel like I’m somebody else, who looks just like me, but he’s not me” he self-analyzes.

First single Lonely Woman sees Savage in full on seduction mode, slowly making advances “Hey girl it’s me the one who wants, to give you everything”, “You could go to bed with your freedom but it’ll make you a lonely woman.” he croons with desire. While More Than I Love Myself resonates with laid bare emotions “What a painful routine we live in”.

Other Life is, for the most part, delightfully charming, with the exception perhaps of It’s Real, which takes a turn for the forbidding, albeit with a hint of Cocteau Twins otherworldliness. Nonetheless, the album continues along a confessional, candid vein backed by sugar sweet synths and soft, padded beats and includes two tracks from previous release Flamingo.

Interestingly, You Changed Me and closing track Chin Chin are among the most memorable elements of the record. That is not a slight on this album, but I do wonder if Savage’s brand of ironic, heartfelt pop will be received with the same fervour this time around.

-Sharon Watters-

That’s how I feel when […]]]>

As The Pastels return for the first time proper since 1997, it’s difficult to divorce my feelings of the past where they are now. Twenty years ago or more they soundtracked your lost late teens. Pretty much picking up from where the joint album with the Anglophile Tenniscoats left off a couple of era back, Slow Summits doesn’t switch tack and still feels like rifling through your family photographs with one too many gins inside you.

That’s how I feel when Stephen gently honks his bari-tones on Summer Rain. The lovely production across the album is fleshed out with violin, flute and analogue synths, which only adds to the twinges. The real ear worm though is Check My Heart, a track that seems to sum up every aspect of this childhood-on-an-endless-loop, adulthood-something-to-be-swerved-whenever-possible wonderful institution of a band. That the album doesn’t really shift out of this gear is not so much a criticism as a tip to keep this album on hand for those weepy moments in your life.

-Julian Tardo-

Getting the minus mark out the way first, we’ve not yet warmed to hyped singer-songwriter King Krule, and hearing him slur […]]]>

Having enjoyed Mount Kimbie’s previous Crooks and Lovers album and EPs, and had our ears turned inside out by their bass-twisting live show, we were excited to see they’d been picked up by Warp. The awkwardly titled Cold Spring Fault Less Youth finds the duo incorporating more live instruments and vocals into their mid-tempo dubs than before, with mixed results.

Getting the minus mark out the way first, we’ve not yet warmed to hyped singer-songwriter King Krule, and hearing him slur unconvincing lyrics like “I killed a man” on the musically unremarkable You Took Your Time hasn’t changed our minds. There’s a clever woodblock rhythm rattling away beneath Krule’s other contribution Meter, Pale, Tone, it’s just a shame it’s buried by his celebrity turn.

The rest of the album splits between pure instrumentals and the smeared and dubbed vocals of Kimbie’s Dominic Maker and Kai Campos themselves. The pair’s singing efforts work more effectively than Krule’s, simply because they’re less upfront, more anonymous, just another piece of the picture.

It’s the sparsest tracks on Cold Spring Fault Less Youth that stand out though. The extended bass wafts of Break Well and the pulsing shimmer of So Many Times, So Many Ways capture the attention without breaking a sweat, the ear focussing in on the distant tone fluctuations. The stuttering clave programming of Made to Stray doesn’t lead anywhere much beyond a dripping, moist echo chamber, Kimbie’s vocals mixed well back, but it’s an absorbing listen.

A bit more of a pick and mix album than the concentrated trip we’d hoped for, then. More mountain peaks than troughs though.

-Stuart Huggett-

Nobuyuki’s vocals work as a component rather than a focal point; unintelligible lyrics and droning melodies float along with the rolling ‘macbook’ percussions and enrapturing bass lines, complemented by the bell-like top notes and […]]]>

Raw yet synthetic, the debut LP from Jesse Ruins is an Ambient Electronic record propelled forward by infectious beats and decorative notes. A Film plays like the soundtrack to an invigorating yet thoughtful late night; under the influence and prone to unabashed liveliness and delicate emotionality.

Nobuyuki’s vocals work as a component rather than a focal point; unintelligible lyrics and droning melodies float along with the rolling ‘macbook’ percussions and enrapturing bass lines, complemented by the bell-like top notes and at times glitchy synth components. Laura is Fading and Talk to Alicia are the obvious single choices, providing more conventional melodies without losing the ambient quality. On Fausta, the record introduces a grinding bass line while continuing to accent the soaring synths, maintaining an atmospheric shift. This evolution continues on Sharon is Frozen- reminiscent of a 90s slasher film soundtrack sped up (verging on creepy) with heavy percussion. Sleepless in Tokyo returns to the foundation of the album; a major standout, it’s an immense and powerful track, highlighting the atmospheric quality of Jesse Ruins.

The recurrence of female names adds to the mysterious allure of A Film. Is this a love letter to different women of Tokyo, a soundtrack to their idealistic and romantic late nights? Complementing the obscurity of the lyrics is a sonic contradiction- an ability to use sounds that seem shallow, and create something full of depth. Jesse Ruins is holding back enough to be fantastical and intriguing while creating a debut full of promise.

-Rick Marcello-

Playing the lion’s share of the melodies on the album, Cronin manages to control […]]]>

Cronin is quickly rising through the indie ranks with his brand of candied, aggressive pop. As a recent grad of the Cal Arts music program, we find him lost, stuck, fearful yet hopeful. The faithless 27 year-old aggressively attacks his acoustic guitar with conviction and fervor – hammering out lyrics of whirlwind emotions and jangly, jagged riffs that would appease the alt-rock gods of the early 90′s.

Playing the lion’s share of the melodies on the album, Cronin manages to control the sonic schizophrenia that often comes with an artist in his position. He beats himself up during the songwriting process to convey how well he beats himself up. Cronin carefully investigates pop melodies through his controlled strumming and methodical monologues which places his sound somewhere between the Beatles and The Posies.

Once the onslaught of emotions ends, a slow and unsure piano rings out only to be guided by the uplifting faith of strings. Cronin observes this quarter-life crisis that he has created as he searches for a different structure. MCII is a collection of anthems for the sunny neurotics stuck in second gear. This is the perfect outlet for Cronin to distance himself from the scuzzy shadow of Ty Segall.

-Christopher Perez-

Trouble Will Find Me begins with I Should Live In Salt, a classic expression of regret, sadness and love torn apart that we’ve come to count on Berninger & co. for. That’s not to say it’s The National by numbers. It’s a welcome, soothing lead-in from the band that like to wear their heart on […]]]>

With any release from The National, it’s imperative you give yourself the time and space the album demands, allowing it to gradually reveal its secrets.

Trouble Will Find Me begins with I Should Live In Salt, a classic expression of regret, sadness and love torn apart that we’ve come to count on Berninger & co. for. That’s not to say it’s The National by numbers. It’s a welcome, soothing lead-in from the band that like to wear their heart on their sleeves. First single Demons broods with exercised restraint, controlled but always with an underlying suggestion that at any moment the whole thing could unravel.

With echoes of Springsteen’s I’m On Fire, Don’t Swallow The Cap is a slow builder with a sense of purpose and determination. Sparse 80′s synths and the Dessner brothers subtle guitars allow the vocal melodies to come to the front, all the while underpinned by the signature, rhythmic pulsations of Devendorf.

This is The Last Time and Heavenfaced offer up a more composed, unhurried ballad driven moment to the record, while the excellent Graceless steps up the pace, bringing back the trademark crescendos. It’s taut, complex and teasing and is sure to cement its place among the live favourites.

Graceless aside, it may seem that there is no immediate tell-tale gem on this record but the late arrival of Pink Rabbits is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A brittle and vulnerable piano anthem, a light-headed sing-a-long moment that leads seamlessly into the panoramic closing strains of Hard To Find.

Once again it seems The National have delivered. They are masters of the understated, there are no instantaneous, foregone conclusions, songs open up slowly with every new listen.

-Sharon Watters-