Seven new singles from five countries, from Finnish rock and Danish indie to noise prog from Leeds.
FEET – Slowly
What. A. Tune. I’d heard “Slowly” live twice before it came out, so I already knew it was a banger.
The guitars are characteristically full of character (yes, I know), making weird noises over the steady bass line in the verses. It’s a riot. Then the harmonica turns up. Yes please. Let’s get weird up in here. It fits the song so well, and I never thought I’d be saying that about a harmonica in an indie rock song. “Slowly” is a proper good time.
Lala Salama – Spacewagon
Well, well, well. As far as I know, I’d never listened to Finnish music before, which makes this a very good introduction.
“Spacewagon” opens with a bass tone good enough to carry the whole thing on its own, and there’s a hypnotic pull to it that’s very easy to sink into. Then the drums turn up and get properly mad, and you realise these guys can really rock out. The best bit is the guitar solo. It starts as this groaning, grumbling thing that sounds like it’s got a complaint to make, then winds itself up into something frantic and higher-pitched. I love how it builds.
The Finnish language has never sounded so cool, and I’m now fully on the hunt for more.
Vivienne Wilder – Lost Cause
It’s just Ms Wilder’s voice and her guitar dancing around each other, like a melancholy lullaby, and the production is perfect for it. There’s an old-school mic effect sitting on her vocals, which suits such a delicate voice, and it makes the whole thing feel like it’s being sung to you from across a quiet room. Then a sax solo wanders in out of nowhere and has no right to sound so good. It sounds like it was recorded in a completely different space to the guitar and vocals, and somehow that’s exactly why it works so nicely. At 5 minutes long it has no business flying by as quickly as it does, but it does. Wonderful work from the Canadian singer-songwriter.
Meltway – Jumper
These guys are adding to my growing theory that Denmark’s indie scene is an absolute goldmine. Why is nobody talking about it? Every week I seem to stumble across another Danish band that makes me wonder what else I’ve been missing. “Jumper” is packed with jangly guitars, drum fills popping up left, right and centre, and atmospheric textures woven throughout. The whole thing sounds like a band having the time of their lives. Every so often it strips right back, with the guitars and bass dropping to sparse, staccato phrases and the drums stepping forward to take over. Then everything piles back in, and the contrast is great.
Marseille – America’s Most Wanted
Police sirens to open, and I knew straight away I was in for a good time. From there it’s all swagger, with a Gallagher-esque vocal delivery strutting about on top. The chorus opens everything up, and the best part is what the band does with it. The guitars get simpler and more euphoric, but the bass refuses to settle and keeps wandering off on its own. Then the strings arrive in the second chorus and make the whole thing gloriously grand. A cool, punchier than usual tune from the Derbyshire lads.
Jade Street – 1981 Saturn
Ten seconds in and I’m already picturing myself running through fields of wheat, Theresa May style. That’s all down to the main riff, which is happy-go-lucky in the extreme, bouncing around like it’s had too much sugar and has everywhere to be. It’s very Smiths-y from the LA group (the guitar at least), and the playing underneath all that jingle-jangling is properly impressive. It’s one hell of a catchy song too.
Señor Pink – The Art Of Telling A Joke
Now, this one is a lot of fun. Noise prog-rock perfection. The riffs are badass, the fuzz on that bass is loooooovely, and the whole thing is so bouncy and energetic that it weirdly makes me want to headbutt something. The tension is wonderful, and I can picture the mosh pits as I listen. Then towards the end some unexpected instruments creep in. Hmm, I spy a woodwind. The ‘prog’ really revealing itself here. When, oh when can I see this live, my heart requires it. This is the sort of tune I imagine the Mad Hatter getting wild to, don’t question the vision, it just came to me. Mental fun from the Leeds lot.
