GIITTV’s Sound of 2018: Part 2

BOY AZOOGA

Boy Azooga is the vehicle for Cardiff’s Davey Newington (previously drummer with Charlotte Church and Houdini Dax) multifarious musical mission, the infectious psych-pop rhythms of ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’, his ace debut single for Heavenly Recordings.  With hints of Hot Butter’s 1972 synth-pop smash Popcorn and the playful percussive psych of Django Django, it draws inspiration from the late Nigerian funk overlord William Onyeabor. It’s an earworm that’s guaranteed to get you dancing. With a debut EP released in 2017 that showed different sides of Boy Azooga with insidious Kurt Vile-like tunes rubbing alongside their more floor-filling numbers, and with more releases hopefully coming out on Heavenly records, Boy Azooga are ones to keep a keen ear out for in 2018. (Bill Cummings)

ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND

Sumptuous minimal, pulsing pop from Polly Mackey who has been involved in a few musical projects down the years. Her new guise may be her best yet going by the vast scope of her debut EP, lead track ‘Bending Back’ is anything to go by mysterious and beguiling, echoing the works of Everything But The Girl only placed in a setting of contemporary production. Mackey’s gorgeously wistful vocals detailing the push and pull of the centre of control in a relationship. Elsewhere meticulously subtle production and haunting vocals of ‘Anything You Want’ and ‘Measures’ possesses the shifting majesty of early xx yet infused with a live throbbing percussion, together vividly depict a songwriting talent with the ability to stop you dead in your tracks. (Bill Cummings)

TEENAGE WRIST

One listen to the LA trio’s latest offering, ‘Dweeb’, will have ’80s and ’90s aficionados hearts aflutter within a matter of seconds. From the opening throes of the Kim Deal aping bass motif, we are then confronted with the kind of throbbing, growling guitars most associated with Killing Joke‘s Geordie Walker. Add into the mix the underlying melody from said guitar, which subtly recalls Bronski Beat‘s ‘Smalltown Boy‘ in places, the almost My Bloody Valentine swirl of its composition and the fact that the vocal is somewhere between My Vitriol and Snow Patrol when they were still good, and you have just savoured a mouth-watering taster for the band’s forthcoming debut album, Chrome Neon Jesus, which is due out in March this year. (Loz Etheridge)

LILURA

LILURA [off-stage she’s Jemma Tweedie] creates the perfect blend of electronic and pop with palpable atmosphere as she builds tension and throws everything she has into everything she does.  Similar to Tove Lo, it’s a mature sound with a large injection of fun.  As for an album this year…  Tracks have been recorded, but only time will tell if a full album will make an appearance in 2018.  In the meantime, stock up on glow-sticks and enjoy what we have been so graciously given so far.  Everyone keep everything crossed for an album!  LILURA is definitely onto something. (Toni Spencer)

https://soundcloud.com/lilura-711379579/burn-me-down

FIVEHEAD

FiveHead are nominally from Leicester but only in postcode terms. In reality, they exist in their own vortex wedged somewhere between the Large Magellanic Cloud and the M69 corridor. Their sound is more cosmic than cosmopolitan, a sonic capitulation into far-reaching wormholes from which your ears are unlikely to ever return. This is ’80s shoegaze soaked in paraffin and set alight with the flames of the torch they hold to Spacemen 3 and their ilk. Their live performances are incendiary acts of high-wire balance, tottering upon cheese wire guitars and a stubborn refusal to conform. Their forthcoming EP, How To Bombproof Your Horse is likely to require a safety certificate from the local Fire Service. Catch them whilst they continue to burn. (Dean Mason)