Goodnight Lenin - Portrait Of Youth

1.    Who are Goodnight Lenin?

Goodnight Lenin are an indie rock band from Birmingham, England. They have been together since 2011 and have one album in the bag. Portrait Of Youth (March’17) is a standalone single. 

2. Is Portrait Of Youth any good? 

Yeah. A slow, ponderous piano intro sets an epic tone to a melancholic build up to a furious strum out. It's a special kind of guitar driven indie heaven but if it's you, it's you. Try out Portrait Youth. 

3. Who do Goodnight Lenin sound like? 

The War On Drugs, The Airborne Toxic Event, and (an Irish) Bruce Springsteen. 

4. What is the word from the press about Portrait Of Youth? 

“Authentic and raw” – And So She Thinks.

“A rock anthem in the making” – Counter Act. 

“Splicing alt-country DNA with an almost punk spirit” – The Hearing Aid.

5. Which bands inspired Goodnight Lenin? 

Some of their main influences are Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, Father John Misty, and Fleet Foxes. 


6. Why should I give Portrait Of Youth a spin?

Because you like a bit of Irish. Because you like an epic. Because you won't hear this on the radio. 


7. What are Goodnight Lenin's best songs?

Desire is good. 


8. Any more words? 

Legs.

“The greatest weight is a heavy mind”

Bonaparte is the Swiss indie rock/electronic musician Tobias Jundt who lives in Berlin, Germany. He is similar to Frizka Viljor and I Heart Sharks. Fuck Your Accent (April'17) is a single from his fifth album The Return Of Stravinsky Wellington (June'17). Bonaparte is an eccentric musical genius who produces quirky pop gems and if you don't like the instant, but disposable, charm of FYA try the maudlin slow burn of Melody X. 

“Don’t understand half the words you say,

I love how you say it anyway”

Wintersleep - Spirit

1. Who are Wintersleep? 

Wintersleep are an indie rock band from Halifax, Canada. The band started in 2001 and Spirit (July'16) is the second single from their sixth album The Great Detachment (March'16). 

2. What kind of song is Spirit? 

Spirit is instantly contagious, radio friendly, mainstream indie rock with a big, ebullient, all in chorus and a touch of indie folk/rock crossover to the tune. A lovely little bass hook bubbles underneath this chest-pounding crowd pleaser. 

3. Who do Wintersleep sound like? 

Arkells, Frightened Rabbit, and The Strumbellas. 

4. What have the press said about Spirit? 

“Raw energy and intensity” – Dusty Organ. 

“Americana rock” – Hear And Now Media.

“A liberating feel-good anthem” – Montreal Rocks.

5. Which bands have influenced Wintersleep?

Their main influences are Neil Young, Fugazi, Dinosaur Jr, Radiohead and Black Mountain. 


6. Why should I give Spirit a listen? 

Because you love chest-thumping mainstream indie with an all-together chorus. 


7. What are Wintersleep's best songs? 

Amerika is head and shoulders above the rest and once Orca warms up it rocks harder than a jail house rapist's erection. 


8. Any more blather?

The Great Detachment is produced by Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai and Super Furry Animals).

“Caught in the spirit of our time”

The Super Furry Animals are a psychedelic Britpop band from Cardiff, Wales. They started making music in 1993 and are still going strong. They were contempories of bands like Stereophonics, Catatonia, Primal Scream and Teenage Fanclub. (Drawing) Rings Around The World was the title track from Super Furry Animals' fifth album Rings Around The World (2001). Rings Around The World was the bands most successful album, critically and commercially, and made it to number 3 on the U.K. album charts. Drowned In Sound called it, “Dreamy. Experimental. Schizophrenic. Bizarre.”

“You expose the film in me”

Band Of Horses - Casual Party

1.    Who are these happy chaps? 

Band Of Horses are an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. They started playing together in 2004 and Casual Party (April’16) is the lead song from Band Of Horses’ fifth album Why Are You Ok? (June’16). Casual Party is the band’s most successful single in the charts.

2. What kind of tune is Casual Party?

Casual Party is a mellow rocker with a hint of southern rock and something to say about the mundane and trivial moments in life and inane conversation. It grooves.

3. Who do Band Of Horses sound like? 

Kings Of Leon, Band Of Skulls and My Morning Jacket. 

4. What have the press said about Casual Party?

“Upbeat with significant guitar riffs” – Outlet Mag.

“A giddy, New Order-like, guitar rush” – The Guardian.

“As fun-loving as they come” – DIY. 

5. Which band lit Band Of Horses' fire?

The bands that influenced Band Of Horses are Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, The Black Lips, Grandaddy and Built To Spill. 

6. Why should I give Casual Party a fair crack of the whip?

Casual Party choogles along. 

7. Do Band Of Horses have any more decent tunes? 

The epic indie rock anthem The Funeral has 50 million plays between two different versions and is well up for it. Is There A Ghost is a bt of a cracker too. 

8. Any more words?

Jason Lytle from Grandaddy produced the album Why Are You Ok? 

“Awful conversation at the casual party,

The job, the babble on, the recreational hobbies, oh”

HLAH (Head Like A Hole) are one of New Zealand's most popular and successful rock bands. Formed in 1992 they are still going strong and have recorded ten albums. HLAH are influenced by bands like Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Fugazi and Nirvana. In 1997 they released a video of their Bruce Springsteen cover I'm On Fire and the cunts fucking smashed it. No other version compares to their earnest delivery with the oh-my-fucking-god-I'm-gonna-lose-it rock out at the end. HLAH are heroes to a grateful nation for delivering this manna from heaven.

“Hey little girl is your daddy home?

Did he go and leave you all alone?”

SPOOKYLAND - Big Head

 

 

 

1. Who are these legends in their lunchtime?

SPOOKYLAND are an indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. Playing together for over five years Big Head (March'16) ripples off their debut album Beauty Already Beautiful (May’16).

2. What's on the turntable?

Big Head is a laid back, booming rocker packed to the gills with rampant, sexy, riffery. The vocals are rather unique; falling somewhere between whiny and pissy.


3. Who do SPOOKYLAND sound similar to?

Big Head is similar to Oasis.


4. What is the good word from the fourth estate?

“It’s a killer track” – Consequence Of Sound.

“Stadium sized rock’n’roll” – Rolling Stone Australia.

“Big riffs and bigger, ballsier vocals” – Backseat Mafia.

5. Which bands bring the pain to SPOOKYLAND’s music?

The main influences are Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Kurt Vile and The Church.

6. Why should I give Big Head a crack?
 
Big Head is having a serve at the double standards that people have judging womens' behavior. While that in itself is admirable the hard rocking band make it bloody loveable.


7. Do SPOOKYLAND have any more bangers?

God's Eyes is good.
 

8. Any more words?

SPOOKYLAND’s singer, guitarist, songwriter, Marcus Gordon, took inspiration from the music, biography and poetry of Patti Smith and the songwriting of Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen.

SPOOKYLAND have played shows supporting Cold War Kids, Gary Clarke Jr and Band Of Skulls.

 

“I love the idiot she made of me”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oasis crawled out of Manchester in 1991 and lasted until 2009 by some miracle and racked up seven big players on their roll of immortal rock'n'roll honor. Cigarettes & Alcohol bled off their debut album Definitely Maybe (1994, the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK and voted by NME readers in 2006 the greatest album of all time). Cigarettes & Alcohol is an anthem. Pitchfork called, “cocky, muscular, and uptempo.”

“Is it worth the aggravation,

To find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vita Bergen - Replace

 

1.    Who are these fellas?

Vita Bergen are an electronic indie band from Gothenburg, Sweden who formed in 2010. Replace (Jan'16) bubbles off their debut album Disconnection (Oct'15).


2. What do Vita Bergen have on offer?

Replace is a dark atmospheric dance rock tune that casts a glance to days gone by.


3. Who do Vita Bergen sound like?

Tape TV are sure Replace sounds like Mando Daio and a consensus led by Clash Music think Vita Bergen are generally like Arcade Fire.


4. What have the press said about Vita Bergen's music?

“Driving bass and urgent tempo” – The Revue.

“Grandiose soundscapes sometimes closing in on the bombastic” – Meadow Music.

“Large extravagent instrumentation with a driving rhythm section” – Bedroom Disco.

 

5. Who are Vita Bergen’s influences?

Vita Bergen's main influences are Wolf Parade, Bright Eyes, Okkervil River, Arcade Fire, Neil Young, Pink Floyd and Neil Young.


6. Why should I give Replace a listen?

Replace is a new take on an old electronic goth sound and it does it well. Good for a change of pace.


7. Do Vita Bergen have any more great songs?

Curtains is the best thing Vita Bergen have ever done and was one of the very best indie songs of 2014. Absolute, knock me down dead, brilliance.


8. Any more information about Vita Bergen?

Vita Bergen means white mountain but is not a reference to the park in Stockholm. It is a reference to the mountains of Gothenburg and an allusion to their purity.

Vita Bergen drive a big black Chevy that gets three miles to the gallon.

“We replace ourselves, because the past is binary”

 

 

The Mission are a gothic rock band from Leeds, England, who started in 1986 and are still going strong. They have produced eleven albums in their long history. Carved In Sand (1990) is their most popular. The album had a handful of singles but Deliverance is the fucking killer. Go to the one and a half minute mark for the start of the song. Mental live. Goes right off.

“Surrender to the wisom of age and the spirits of time”

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Theo Verney

Hell yes! Theo Verney’s Mountain Rose (Feb'15) is one of the best indie songs of 2015. A drumstick count in propels the song straight into a dirty little low key groove that the tune choogles along on. Verney’s voice on this track is a ringer for Ian Brown and the song sure as shit has a Stone Rosey feel to it. No it’s not just the fucking title.

The guitars give it the juice in the chorus but the vocals remain soaring above lending the tune an expansive, timeless and epic quality. There's a bit of fun and bounce in the verses, more rock than shoe gaze, more Stonesy than Rosey. Not a tune to inspire instant devotion perhaps but like an STD it grows fast on you, is fun to get and hard to get rid of.

Theo Verney is a one man band in the studio and a hard rocking three piece on stage. They come smoking out of Brighton, England. Theo has been on the job since 2013. Mountain Rose is from his third short player Brain Disease (May'15).

Shit you need to know:

Theo Verney pitches a tent for DIY. All the instruments were recorded by himself and he produces his own tracks.

Get's his kicks from 70's rock like Frank Zappa, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath.

Theo Verney also admitted having a chubby for Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and The Black Lips.

Theo Verney has been compared to Ty Segall.

Theo Verney supported Two Gallants in London last month.

Wake Me Softly is a fucking goodie and so is Heavy Sunn.

 
Double trouble today comes from Australian rock band Kingswood and their stone cold classic Ohio (2013).

“She was standing at the show
Why? I guess I'll never know
Should I stay or should I go?”

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Little Bastard

Have you ever had some friends who could play a bit and at a party you wished, “someone should record these pricks, they are good”? Meet Little Bastard. A motley crew of largely acoustic bandits who can bang out a ripping tune.

Have you seen an Irish pub band get on a bus to play a song to a captive audience? Yeah Little Bastard do that. Little Bastard are Australian but sweet Jesus High For You (March'14) is not only a furious barnstormer but like all the best songs, and your sex life, finished in less than three frantic minutes.

Little Bastard come racing out of Sydney and describe themselves as a punk/string band. Other’s have used the detested labels of blue grass or country. But ignore that,  the seven members have been plucking away, at their instruments,  for more than three years and High For You comes off their debut album Little Bastard (June’14).

Little Bastard get a buzz on from music from Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan and Neil Young to name but a few. Songs to dance a jig to include the out standing Be My Kind and Desert Roller. The band are named after James Dean’s car.

 

 

Follow up? Try the best fucking band to ever come out of Oz, the arse ripping, nut punching and cunt punting legends Living End and their finest ever punk anthem Prisoner of Society (1997).

If you dare you pale fraud of a human being.