The Fratellis - I Guess I Suppose

1.    Who?

The Fratellis are an indie rock band from Glascow, Scotland. You can hear their song Chelsea Dagger used and abused in football grounds all over the world. I Guess I Suppose is an album track from their fifth album In Your Own Sweet Time (March'18).


2. What?

I Guess I Suppose is a simple and unassuming glam shuffle with hints of the old standard Spirit In The Sky (Norman Greenbaum).


3. Who do The Fratellis sound like?

The Kooks, T.Rex, and Primal Scream.


4. What have the magazines said?

“The Fratellis have taken their staple energetic and profound beginnings and stepped it up another level” – Liverpool Sound and Vision.

“Southern swamp rock” – Salute.

“Inevitable fan favourite” – The Friendly Critic.

5. Which bands have influenced The Fratellis?

The Clash, The Kinks, Supergrass, T.Rex, Slade, and The Faces.



6. Why should I listen to it?

Just when you thought The Fratellis were yesterdays men they went in search of the magic that propelled their debut album Costello Music (2006) to the top of the British charts and established Chelsea Dagger as an anthem. They went back to producer Tony Hoffer who produced their debut and the results are a career apogee.

7. Any other good tunes on the album?

Most definitely. The singles The Next Time We Wed and Stand Up Tragedy have a Prince influenced funk vibe married to slinky indie rock.


8. Any more words? 

Tony Hoffer has produced albums for The Kooks, The Arkells, Belle & Sebastian, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Foster The People.

“I’ll be there with bells on”

Catholic Action are an NME indie rock buzz band from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 2014 they have one album to their name In Memory Of (2017) that is reminiscent of early 2000's indie rock bands like The Fratellis, The Kooks, and The Vaccines. New Year is a glam stomp with The Fratellis written all over it but Doing Well is more of a jangly indie rock earworm. Clash magazine called it 'too sugar-coated to resist'. 

PARTYBABY - New Years 2014 On A Beach (Felicity)

1.    Who are these heroes?

PARTYBABY have landed. These ubermensch are an indie rock band with sides of punk, glam and garage. PARTYBABY fly out of Los Angeles, California. The men have one mini-album to their names, The Golden Age Of Bullshit (Sept' 16). New Years 2014 On A Beach (Felicity) is an album track.

2.    What’s this New Years 2014 On A Beach (Felicity) like then? 

A passionate song of love lost that alternates between police-siren urgency and a big fat wallow in heart-break. All accompanied by the usual tsunami of guitar PARTYBABY are famous for. A brief old school drum and chorus breakdown too. A fucking classy effort.

3. Who do PARTYBABY sound like? 

At the minute FIDLAR, VANT or even SWMRS. It must be the All Caps. Back in the day Green Day, Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins. It must be the ability to whinge when you've got it good.

4. What have the press said about PARTYBABY? 

“Flag-bearers for a whole generation” – DIY.

“Raw and authentic” – Ones To Watch.

“Undoubtedly and unabashedly, the real deal” – Paste Magazine.

5. Which bands are the air beneath PARTYBABY's wings?

Some of the band's PARTYBABY like are Everclear, Primal Scream, Sparklehorse, Fat Boy Slim and SWMRS. 

6. Why should I give this fresh new shit a whip past the ears? 

For the tsunami of guitar PARTYBABY produce after the slow buildup. A fresh mix of old ideas with hot production. These are the heirs to the throne of alternative American rock'n'roll; I shit you not.

7. Do PARTYBABY have any more bangers? 

Fuck yes. Your Old Man is a fresh, savage, garage/glam rock attack on the senses that packs more wallop than a steel-capped boot to the taint. Overload is the album reprise, two minutes of a drunk man croaking along, playing his acoustic at 5 a.m. that explodes into a raging torrent of theatrical glam rock. 

8. Any more words numpty?

Noah Gersh was a guitarist with Portugal. The Man and Jamie Shefman is a producer and engineer, most notably on the last two 30 Seconds To Mars albums. 

“I see you, sweet Felicity,

The way you move is killing me” 

Ex Cops are an indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York. They have recorded two albums. Ex Cops sound a lot like classic English indie bands like James, Travis or Teenage Fanclub. They are influenced by Kiwi indie too so there is a bit of The Chills there too. Ex Cops debut album True Hallucinations (2013) contained the gem James. Not to be confused with the band James that it sounds a lot like. Pitchfork called James, “an exercise in indie-pop classicism” and it is James that is the quintessence of English indie.

“Thinking about what it all has to do”

Mating Ritual - I Can't Dance

1.    Who is this slick scenester?

Mating Ritual is the solo indie pop rock project of Ryan Marshall Lawhon started in 2014. The man hails from Los Angeles and has a handful of singles on his resume. I Can’t Dance (March’16) is from his self-titled debut short player Mating Ritual (March’16).


2. What kind of trick is I Can’t Dance?

I Can't Dance brings glam stomp to electronic indie pop and has a wedge of guitar propping up the edifice. Marches with purpose to the final objective.


3. Who do Mating Ritual sound like?

An indie Phil Collins with a sense of purpose. Indie Shuffle were feeling Arctic Monkeys and Joywave and couldn't see their way past mentioning Ryan's previous band Pacific Air. Whatever.


4. What have the estemable folk in the press got to say about I Can’t Dance?

“Classic rock’n’roll style” – Indie Shuffle.

“Galloping drums and sharp guitars” – Buzzbands.

“We’re digging it” – All Things Go Music.

5. Which bands put the rumble in Mating Ritual’s tumble?

Mating Ritual’s early influences were New Age music like Enya, Ray Lynch and Laurie Anderson. Later influences were post punk and early emo bands.


6. Why should I give I Can’t Dance a lash?

Mating Ritual have spun together a handful of top order nut cracking tunes early doors. I Can't Dance continues the theme of oozing mainstream appeal while retaining a knife sharp rock edge and eshewing bubblegum. Ryan Marshall Lawhon is a visionary musician. You can dance without embarassment.


7. Do Mating Ritual have any more of these gems?

Fuck yes. Hum Hum is top of the pack but I Wear Glasses is insanely good. Toxins is sublime.


8. Any more words?

Ryan Marshall Lawhon considers his short player a modern story-telling of the millenial dating scene. For a breakdown of all four songs go to Bullett Media.

“I can’t dance to the beat of your drum”

 

Walter Lukens is an indie rock/blues/soul musician from Austin, Texas, and generally considered the best thing in town. Mr Lukens has two long long players in the bag and Every Night (2015) is the lead single from the second album Baked Goods (2015). Produced by Jim Eno, drummer for Spoon, Spin compared Every Night to Led Zeppelin meets the Four Seasons and called it an “excellent new strutter.” Every Night is a laid back strutting rocker with soul.

“Every night is the same old beast”

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Foals

It took me a long time to release the merits of English indie rock band Foals but they are profound and, just like cock rash, it grows slowly on you without noticing and it's lots of fun getting it. Of course I quite liked Inhaler, My Number and Mountain At My Gates, but What Went Down (Jun’15) is a fucking cunt punt, a belter. What Went Down is the title track from Foals fourth album, and one that's set to surpass the rock hard brilliance of their third table-topping album Holy Fire (2013). 

But what would you expect from a band with three gold albums under their belt, who beat out The Arctic Monkeys for best live act 2013 and took the piss out of them at the awards show? Good bastards. A band that put on an 'unforgettable show' in Auckland, New Zealand where their singer told the security to go fornicate with themselves, to the crowds loud approval. A band with the NME 2013 track of the year for Inhaler (2012). A band Clash magazine call "...nothing less than sensational" and a band who fronted up to Kanye West and told him to pull his head out of his arse. A band whose new album went number one in the UK in September. These are the new pretenders to the throne of British Rock and Roll. They are Foals.

 

 

 

Foals are an indie pop-rock band from Oxford, England. What Went Down is the first single from the same titled album What Went Down (Aug’15). NME called the band "desert rock goliaths" and of the tune What Went Down, NME  made mention of the songs "...massive, fucking heavy cavern rock riffs, the size of cathedrals and the weight of God’s balls." Clash magazine called What Went Down both "unbelievably aggressive" and "feral." 

Similar to other Foal's songs What Went Down builds up hard and fast like plaque on a junkies teeth. It doesn't have the naked aggression of Pretty Vicious's National Plastics but it doesn't need to. If Foals are taking a rarely used musical muscle out for exercise in this tune then they need to get out for a stretch more often. If this is what the kids are listening to rock and roll is in a safe pair of hands, What Went Down is one of the best indie songs of 2015.
 

“I fell for a girl with a port-wine stain

I knew her initials but never her name”

 

 

Shit you need to know:

What When Down was recorded by James Ford, the ‘fifth Arctic Monkey,’ who has put nose to grind for the Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, Mumford & Sons and is one half of Simian Mobile Disco.

Their music was called "an arena-funk hybrid" by Pitchfork.

Pop Matters said they have "infectious songs with arena-sized choruses."

NME called Foals, "...the most inspired and inspirational band of their generation."

Foals recent music has been compared to The Black Keys by NME, The Red Hot Chili Peppers by Pitchfork and they sound a lot like the Arctic Monkeys to me at the minute.

The singer said the bands early influences were Fugazi, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, Nirvana and dance music.

More recently the singer Yannis Philippakis said more pertinantly on the topic of the band's influences to the Independent "...we listen to African music, folk, hip-hop because that is what 21st-century multicultural UK society is like and it should be revelled in." 

Pitchfork called the new album What Went Down “...their most consistent, steady-handed work yet,” but not everyone is convinced. Pop Matters opined that it is just "...yet another anchoring point in Foals slow downward trajectory."

The singer Yannis Philippakis called the new album “lean” and “punchy”.

Clash Magazine said What Went Down is “... a hugely accomplished effort from one of Britains best bands.”

The singer chooses not to have a television in the house.

They did a cover of Mark Ronson's Daffodils (Aug’15) for legendary Aussie alternative radio program Triple J’s ‘Like A Version’.

The band were on fluffer duties for Janes Addiction this month.

 

If you're feeling it try more Foals crackers like the legendary Mountain At My Gates or for something funkier Inhaler or even My Number.

 

 

Todays slippery seconds is Spiderbait, the second best Australian alternative rock band to ever walk the earth, with an often huge glam-rock sound, playing together since 1989. They have a massive list of must have songs from Shazam to Buy Me A Pony to Outta My Head. Spiderbait hit the big time and international recognition with their soundtrack favorite, their hard rocking cover of Ram Jam’s Black Betty. But Spiderbait's best is the big nasty groove of Stevie (2011).

“Take me out for tea
There's a little place that I know you might like to be”


 



 

 

 

 

 



The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - The Van Jets

The Van Jets are a Belgian garage pop-rock band who began by following in the glam-rock footsteps of David Bowie and T.Rex but evolved into synth driven 80’s pop and funk that minds me of Alcoholic Faith Mission and Joywave a little. Two Tides of Ice (April'15) has been called “ just plain contagious” and “a little darker than what we're used to, but... catchy as hell.” The Van Jet's were influenced by listening to Kanye West's Yeezus while making the new album.

Two Tides of Ice is expansive electronic space rock in the realm of Galaxie with a hiphop-esque delivery in the verses. It's as funky as a Bangkok rent-boy’s taint at four in the morning. Epic lyrics, “All the way from Babylon all the way to Mars” tells it loud and proud, these fuckers aren’t bothering the small stuff and they ain’t taking prisoners. This is what I’d want to be listening to if I was in the German army when the Allied invasion of Normandy woke them up and death was landing on the beaches. This is total surrender. The Van Jets have exploded into 2015 with one of the best indie songs of the year.

“I drink and I lie and I cheat,

Get your fuck me boots”

Shit you need to know:

Two Tides of Ice is the first single from The Van Jet's fourth album Welcome To Strange Paradise (April’15).

Welcome To Strange Paradise was produced by Leo Abrahams who has done the hard yards for Paolo Nutini, Oscar and the Wolf and Wild Beasts.

The mixing of the long player was done by T’Chad Blake who has worked for Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys and Pearl Jam.

The album contains songs that explore environmental issues with an ironic Pop Art twist.


The band’s main squeezes are David Bowie, Grace Jones, Beck and Gorillaz.

Someone thinks that The Van Jets are similar to Balthazar and Oscar and the Wolf.

Other Van Jet songs that don't suck donkey dick are Here Comes The Light and WelcomeTo Strange Paradise. But Two Tides Of Ice is the bolter in the pack.
 

Slippery seconds comes courtesy of English indie rockers The Kaiser Chiefs and their best barn-burner I Predict A Riot (2005).

“Watching the people get lairy
It's not very pretty I tell thee
Walking through town is quite scary
It's not very sensible either..”