Who? Las Aves
What? ‘You Need A Dog
Where? Paris
What they say? Parisian pop entity Las Aves return with satirical new slice “You Need A Dog” – a commentary on the modern break-up cure. Partly produced by Geoff Swan (Charli XCX, Grimes), “You Need A Dog” surprises with its unabashed originality, revealing rave spectres from the noughties. Shot on 35mm film, the video depicts the desperate honeymoon of a teenage girl and her dog in the suburbs of Paris. It evokes eccentric films of Gregg Araki or the fragranced romanticism of Sofia Coppola.
Why we love it? Fusing cinematic RnB tinged pop melodies and punctuating them with stompy surreal refrains ‘I need a fucking dog’ that represent a desperate need for company, underscored with early 00s electro clash flourishes and vocal trickery. Utterly addictive(BC)
FFO:Charli XCX, Grimes, Sophie
Who? Whispering Sons
What? ‘Alone’
Where? Belgium
What they say? Whispering Sons’ contemporary version of dark and hypnotising cold/new wave gets up under your skin, and with Fenne Kuppens as frontwoman, they’ve found one in a million. The Dutch press described her as ‘Beth Gibbons’ steely, aggressive sister’ earlier this year after three knock-out performances at Eurosonic. She could even be Nick Cave’s younger sister in his Birthday Party years. The truth is, that after years of touring – the band’s live performances still pack a sledgehammer punch, and Fenne crushes it with her black-as-night voice and maniacal stage presence.
Why we love it? These broody Belgian post-punks owe a lot to their spiky guitar influences (The Cure, Joy Division et al) but there’s something incredibly powerful and urgent about ‘Alone’ that allows the band to take a sound that has been rehashed to death and make it their own sacrificial ceremony. If the music itself doesn’t prick you, Fenne’s deep vocals are enough to make your spine tingle like a ghost has just brushed past and make ‘Alone’ a nightmarish waterslide into solitude. (NK)
FFO: The Cure, The Soft Moon, Joy Division, Savages
Who? Dreamer Boy
What? ‘Falling For The Wrong One’
Where? Nashville
What they say? Nashville’s Dreamer Boy has us wrapped around his finger with dreamy beats and gentle lyrics inspired by love, adventure, and life’s simple pleasures. Also known as Zach Taylor, his frequent collaborators Bobby Knepper, Adam Alonzo, and Cody Clark provide an amalgamation of ambient beats, droney R&B lyrics, and Southern Charm fused in strangely perfect harmony. Delivering their own unique style of music that could be most notably described as “Cowboy Pop,” Dreamer Boy’s debut album is brilliant and forward-thinking.
Filmed in one take thirty minutes before soundcheck for a performance with The Marias at renowned venue Pappy & Harriet’s, a hand-held camera finds the artist in repose near a lone Joshua Tree as the deep dusk glows with intoxicating purple hues. As Zach’s doo-wop falsetto weaves around a laid back drum machine alongside roommate/producer Bobby Knepper and friends, the circle bounces to the beat with cowboy hats that won’t stay on to a melody that marries soothing vocal harmonies with the experimental pop production. It’s an enchanting sunset serenade, full of fun and spontaneity.
Why we love it? Dreamer Boy’s brand of chorus-pedal driven dream pop is nothing entirely new, but like a late-summer wander through lush country fields, it’s a carefree and enjoyable listen that requires no more than a lend of your ears to fully appreciate. (NK)
FFO: Mac Demarco, Hers, Real Estate
 
Who? Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard
What? ‘Late Night City’
Where? Cardiff
What they say? With ‘Late Night City’, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard praise their gods Bowie, Bolan and Bill Fay while demonstrating a knack for modern rock and roll songwriting beyond their tender years as a band with guitars set to maximum fuzz and denim well and truly the order of the day. Explaining the single release, Rees said: “This tune fully explores the deeply rooted constitutional issues with work and play, and I’m excited at the prospect of folks rocking to this song whilst doing both, even if it is steeped in horrific irony. I also wanted to write a song that expressed my love for the Eagles and I think I may have finally done it!”
Why we love it? Another scarves aloft, rollicking 70s splattered anthem, from Cardiff scamps Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, delivered in glam get up and a glint in their eyes. Riotous and catchy, it’s the sound of scarpering from work early on a Friday afternoon to hit the tiles; it’s simply impossible to resist their charm.(BC)
FFO: T-Rex, Thin Lizzy, Bowie, The Sweet
Who? Cherry Pickles
What? ‘Elvis Exorcist’
Where? Birmingham
What they say? Priscila B brings from Brazil her love of early Tropicalia and the kind of ‘let’s be bad’ attitude that can only come from a land chock full of Catholic guilt. Mimi B brings her love of stripped down, bare essential rhythm. If two drums are good enough for Peggy O’Neill then they should definitely be good enough for you. Together they bonded over a mutual love of 50s malt-shop-pop, 60s minimalist garage, no wave, fuzz and all forms of outsider art. ‘Art damaged’ isn’t a slur, it’s a compliment. Anything lost in translation with this transatlantic duo only doubles the charm.
Played entirely on thrift store instruments with the kind of enthusiasm and naiveté severely lacking in a lot of today’s music this is not some clever re-imagining or ironic take on lo-fi, this is the real deal! Technique and skill be damned, the message comes through strong and that message is “Don’t think about it, just cross the line and enjoy it.” All rolled together with gum, glitter, and sticky tape in the studio by fellow Birmingham noisemakers Black Mekon, the result is slightly wrong-sounding but infectious one-minute-garage-pop with gusto. One guitar, 2 drums, the basement band you always wanted to start.
Why we love it?
Thick black tar surf layered with twitching drums and scalpel like guitars, the vocal is the remnants of rriott grrl colliding with the snarl of garage punk. Ever so slightly ominous, cool and impossible not to move to.(BC)
FFO: Black Mekon, Le Tigre, Clinic
Who? Mildlife
What? ‘How Long Does It Take’
Where? Melbourne
What they say? Heavenly Recordings are pleased to announce they will be releasing the new single from Melbourne, Australia’s, Mildlife. ‘How Long Does It Take?’ plus two remixes by Italo-disco legends Daniele Baldelli and Marco Dionigi will be released digitally on April 12 followed by 12″ vinyl on April 26.
How Long Does It Take’ is an homage to the dance floors and clubbers who championed our music from Day 1,” the band say of the single. “We’ve been delighted to watch heaving crowds burn holes in the dance floor as we close our set with it so now we’re equally delighted to offer it up on record as a late night thumper.”
Why we love it? Building from mournful flute and twinkling keys into an enveloping multi coloured kaleidscope of floor filling beats, filthy basslines, flutes, horns and samples. It brings to mind blaxploitation soundtracks, 70s soul and Italo-disco, in a whirling dervish of instrumentation. Delightful and heady! (BC)
FFO: Hot Chip, Giorgio Moroder, Kavinsky, Daniele Baldell
Who? Cate Le Bon
What? Daylight Matters
What they say?
‘Daylight Matters,’ is the first single from her forthcoming release, Reward, out May 24th on Mexican Summer. As described by Le Bon, the video represents “playful solitary despair in an alien landscape of sinking sand and towers in the sea. Searching or running away? A little bit of both, maybe.”
Reward’s ten songs were conceived alone at a piano, which remains evident by the feeling of closeness that they convey. Although eventually recorded across America and the UK, and roping in a roll call of trusted collaborators (including Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, H.Hawkline and Samur Khouja as co-producer),The result is an album every bit as stylistically varied, surrealistically-inclined and tactile as those in the enduring outsider’s back catalogue, but one that is also intensely introspective and profound and significantly her most personal to date.
Why we love it? Theres a subtle, quiet reverence to Daylight Matters; it’s the sound of being isolated, lost and longing for love. Le Bon’s exquisite Welsh wrapped tone opines ‘I love you, I love you, but you don’t’ with a heartbreaking exquisite quality above gently lapping suite of slow-motion orchestration.(BC)
FFO:Nico, Marissa Nadler
