The Hubbards - Cold Cut



 

 

 

1.    Who are these loose gooses?

They would be The Hubbards, an English guitar pop indie band from Hull, England. Cold Cut (Feb’16)  is from the E.P. of the same name Cold Cut (March’16). The Hubbards cranked up the melody in 2012 and have a handfull of singles in their catalogue.


2. What kind of tune is Cold Cuts?

A beautiful slice of English indie guitar rock with sweet vocals married to meandering guitars and a tight rhythm section.


3. Who do The Hubbards sound like?

The Hubbards were compared to Placebo by Leeds Music Scene.


4. What have the press to say about Cold Cuts?

“Lurches and sways along to tight rhythms and intertwining melodies” – Indie Is Not A Genre.
 
“Well-rounded bubbling masterpiece” – SOS Music.

“I just love the melodies that coalesce” – Abduction Radiation.

5. Who put the sparkle in The Hubbards?

No knowledge. The Hubbards mentioned loving Rage Against The Machine and The Libertines in concert to BBC News.


6. Why should I give Cold Cuts a whip past the ear holes?

Cold Cuts is proof of The Hubbards arrriving as a band. Mellow guitar pop on the outside but a noisy little concoction as you chew through the layers.


7. Do The Hubbards have any more pearlers?

Stick with Cold Cuts.

 
8. Any more words?

The Hubbards are the biggest band in Hull now, a city that brought us bands like The Beautiful South, The Housemartins, Fat Boy Slim, Fine Young Cannibals and The Paddingtons.

The Hubbards have been fluffers for The 1975, Foals, Dog Is Dead and Little Comets.

The Hubbards are heading out on a headline tour of the UK in March and April.

“I’m a sucker for you”

 

 

 

 

In between singing in The Housemartins and going out on his tod as Fat Boy Slim, Norman Cook formed the short lived (1989-1991) indie electronic band Beats International. Their debut album Let Them Eat Bingo (1990) had the UK number one hit Dub Be Good To Me a re-working of The SOS Band’s Just Be Good To Me with the bass line from The Clash’s Guns Of Brixton.

 

“Tank fly boss walk jam nitty-gritty
You're listening to the boy from the big bad city”

 

 

Richard Ashcroft - This Is How It Feels

1. Who is this gangly streak of piss?

Richard Ashcroft was the front man for princes of Britpop The Verve. Striking out on his own he has six long players in the bank. This Is How It Feels (Feb'16) is the debut single from the sixth album These People (May'16).

2. What kind of tune is Richard Ashcroft slinging these days?

A belter. This Is How It Feels is a languid slow burner that wallows in the epic space creating by the strings and wall of sound guitars while effortlessly juxtaposing with the profound intimacy created by the acoustic guitar and baritone vocals. The song builds to a supremely satisfying slow crescendo.

3. Who does Richard Ashcroft sound like?

The bleeding obvious, The Verve. This Is How It Feels is a big one and fits Bittersweet Symphony size boots nicely.

4. What have the cut and paste merchants got to say?

“Taking the grandiose spirit of The Verve and channelling it into very old school, traditional songwriting” – DIY.

“Stripped back and mellow but it never loses its rawness” – 6 Towns.

“A brilliant return, packed full of acoustic melody and Ashcroft’s outstanding vocals” – Tenement TV.

 

5. Which bands have put the epic in Mr Ashcroft's greatness?

 Richard Ashcrofts influences are The Stooges, Funkadelic, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Next up are Joy Division, The Byrds, Miles Davis and The Smiths.

 

6. Why should I give This Is How It Feels a lashing?

Don't. You'll be hearing it everywhere soon enough. This Is How It Feels has the grandeur of Bittersweet Symphony but so if you like that...

 

7. Does Dicky have any more bangers?

No. Bollocks the lot of it.

 

8. Any more good words?

Richard Ashcroft says the new album these people is about, “some personal and world events taking a dark turn, leading to a sense of urgency and a clearing of the mind”.

Richard Ashcroft played junior football for Wigan Athletic.
 

“Oh, she went straight for my veins,

 Now I'm back home again”

 

 

 

Stirring the custard are New Orleans new wave duo Generationals. Started in 2008 the band have four long players propping up the record player. Black Lemons (2014) bubbled off their fourth album Alix and is a song NPR said, “mixes marimba-based jolliness and lyrics tinged with darkness.” Kooky goodness.
 

“I let my old life tie me to the tracks,
I heard my best friend tell me,
You can never go back”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oscar - Sometimes

1.   Who is this buttoned up player?

Oscar Scheller is an indie guitar pop one man band from North London, England. Sometimes (Jan'16) is a re-release from 2014 and the first track on Oscar's debut album Cut And Paste (May'16). Oscar has two short players and singles in the vault.


2. What kind of tune is up for grabs?

Middle of the road indie pop rock. So middle of the road it's a hazard to traffic.


3. Who does Sometimes sound like?

So Blur it isn't even funny. Add Kate Pierson from the B-52's on back up vocals. Dusted.

Stereogum feel Sometimes sounds like a Beat Happening tune.


4. What have the cut and paste merchants got to say?

“Infectious and rambunctious” – Write, Click, Cook, Listen.

“Sprightly guitar-driven rave-up” – Stereogum.

“A sparkling, hook-laden introduction (to Oscar)” – Clash Music.

5. Who puts the middle in Oscar’s road?

Oscar's influences are Blur, Grimes, The Kinks, reggae, NAS, Chet Baker and ESG.


6. Why should I waste valuable time pressing play?

Sometimes is the aural equivalent of comfort food. You won't be carving 'Oscar 4 Real' on your chest but you'll love it just the same.


7. Has Oscar got any more good tunes?

Beautiful Words is more of the same. Sound as a pound.


8. Any more pearls of wisdom?

Oscar is the product of a privileged upbringing and an art school education.

Oscar was on fluffer duties for Sunflower Bean in the UK and Bloc Party recently in Paris.

“I’m freaking out so let me through,

Head space, some place.”

Dessert is served by Cheers Elephant, an indie pop rock band from Philadelphia. Cheers Elephant have standard issue influences like The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Kinks. Also coming from a privileged background the band have recorded three albums. Speak Think is a stand alone single from 2015 and described by Swollen Fox as having a “groovy, summery feel.” The chorus is as sticky as a rapist in church.

“I’m a fill my cup

By standing up on what’s alright”

Ray LaMontagne - Pt. 1 Hey No Pressure

1.   Who is this earthy looking chap?

Ray LaMontagne is a very popular folk rocker from Nashua, New Hampshire  with five long playes in the bag.  Pt1. Hey, No Pressure (Jan’16) comes grooving off his new album Ouroboros (March’16).

2. What kind of nonsense is coming over the wire?

Pt 1. Hey, No Pressure is a slow chugger with a monster riff. You can already find multiple Youtube videos on how to play the riff. The riff is just epic. A desert rocking riff.

3. So who does Mr Montagne sound like?

Black Rebel Motorcycle club with a flat wheel?  Lenny Kravitz on Valium?

Zumic punted for Black Keys.Sound Bites for Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) and Billy Thorpe. Yeah, me neither.


4. So what is the good word from the wordsmiths?

“Infectious distorted guitar riffs and swirling sound effects” - Zumic.

“Brings Black Keys-worthy riffage to his inspired words” - NPR.

“Fuzzed-up, effects-laden electric guitar and punchy drums” - Sound Bites.

5. Who inspired this free spirit?

Stephen Stills, Richard Manuel, and Rick Danko are the wind in his sails. 

6. Why should I give Pt 1. Hey, No Pressure a fair crack of the whip?

The riff. Nasty big bluesy riff you will blast out your speakers with. A real sexy, grinder. The song is sex on a stick.

7. Has Mr Montagne whipped out any more big un's?

You Are The Best Thing has more of the soul singing sexiness.

8. More drivel?

Yeah. The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach produced LaMontagne’s 2014 album, Supernova, but Ouroboros was produced by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James.

“Anything you want your life to mean, it can mean”

Double trouble from The Primitives today. The English indie pop band most famous for 1988’s Crash are still alive and kicking and cracked a great one in Petals off the 2014 album Spin-O-Rama.

“A heart not broken won't need mending
Nothing gained so nothing lost”

 

 

 

 

 

Secret Company - Picture

1.   Who are these morose looking cats?

Secret Company are an indie pop rock band from Essex who fight out of Chelmsford, England. They have been together since 2012 and are a few singles and a short player to the good. Picture (Dec'15) is a standalone single.

2. What kind of tune is Picture?

An earnest indie pop rocker with emotive vocals and cracking drums. A song about a fight between friends and the frustration generated, it comes with lashings of lead guitar lines, unfortuantely buried down in the mix. Dicks.

3. Who do Secret Company sound like?

Kodaline, Longfellow and The Academic.

The band are compared by the press to The 1975, Bastille and Coldplay. Bit of a stretch.

4. What have the press got to say about Picture?

“A lush and galvanizing pop-rock tune” - Gigwise.

“It freely flows and twists bringing with it beautiful soundscapes, glittering harmonies and liquid like guitar lines” - Gigslutz.

“A sparkling slice of their flawless alternative pop” - Fame Magazine.

5.   Who are Secret Company’s musical influences?

The band get their sparkle from Jeff Buckley, Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Muse, Prince, Coldplay, John Mayer and The Killers.

The band have mentioned some love for Catfish & The Bottlemen, London Grammar, Arcade Fire, Tusks, Chvirches and Disclosure.

6. Why should I give this mushy shite a lashing?

The vocals convery the sense of frustration of a universal situation that pisses us all of. Friend hears one side of the story and blames you before you have a chance to tell your side. Good stuff in what would otherwise be a stock standard English indie guitar song. 

7. Do the Secret Company have any other good ones?

Fuck right off. Lightning struck with Picture.

8. Do you have any more pertinent information about Secret Company?

The bands interests are skateboarding, girls, parties, beer, music and films.

The band are on fluffer duties for Coasts next week.

“The other side of the story is what you’ve missed

And blame on me but you only know the half of it”

The double dip is from shit hot Vermont garage rock man King Tuff. Currently playing in the backing band for Ty Segall, Kyle Thomas has four albums in the vault and Bad Thing (2012) comes punching off the third, the self-titled King Tuff (2012).

“When I'm looking in the mirror,
A creature so ugly and wild”