SHARP/SHOCK - Troublemaker

1.    Who are SHARP/SHOCK?

SHARP/SHOCK are a punk band from Southern California. The singer and guitarist are British/Kiwi. SHARP/SHOCK started in 2015 and Troublemaker (Oct'17) is the third single from their debut album Unlearn Everything (2017).

2. What kind of song is Troublemaker?

Troublemaker sounds like classic British punk with a ska undertone but a modern drum sound. Clash guitar and Jam vocals while the bass bubbles and the drums drive hard to the finish line. No-ones reinventing the wheel here.

3. Who do SHARP/SHOCK sound like?

The Spitfires, The Clash, and The Jam.

4. What is the good word on Troublemaker?

“Fucking ace!” - YouTube Comments. 

“Love this music”- YouTube Comments. 

“Absolutely love it” – YouTube Comments. 

5. Which bands have influenced SHARP/SHOCK?

Oasis, The Cure, Madness, The English Beat, and The Specials.

6. Why should I give Troublemaker a spin?

You like The Jam. You like classic roots, rock, reggae.

7. Have they got any other bangers?

Try Away From The Man.

8. Any more words?

SHARP/SHOCK released their second album Youth Club today.

“You wrote ‘I Fought The Law’,

But the law won that day”

Autonomics are an garage rock/power pop band from Portland, Oregon. They have been making tunes since 2008 and have one album Debt Sounds (2017). Autonomics have been compared to The Thermals and The Dandy Warhols. They are influenced by Japandroids and The Strokes. Bad Blood is an album track from Debt Sounds and Japandroids come through thick on this one. Fucking quality. Autonomics are a band on the rise.

“We drove away from the city, drove away from the city

We were never gonna die, we were never gonna die”

Kasabian - In Love With A Psycho

1. Who are Kasabian? 

Kasabian are an indie rock/dance band from Leicester, England, making music since 1997. The band are commercially successful with their last four albums making it to number one in the U.K. album charts. In Love With A Psycho (March’17) is the first single from their sixth album For Crying Out Loud (April’17). 


2. What have they got? 

In Love With A Psycho is radio-friendly meh that grows on you insidiously. A hummable chorus that becomes a bit of an earworm. Playlist filler.


3. Who do Kasabian sound like?

They are often compared to Primal Scream, The Stone Roses, and The Happy Mondays.

4. What have people said about In Love With A Psycho?  

“A sweet and hypnotic single” – 411 Mania.

“A naggingly catchy perfect pop tune” – Louder Than War.

“Amiable and still enjoyable” – The Edge.

5. Which bands have inspired Kasabian? 

Key influences on this album are Public Enemy, Bruce Springsteen and The Stooges. Elsewhere they have mentioned Oasis and Led Zeppelin as big influences.

6. Why should I listen to In Love With A Psycho? 

Because it's a good 'un. Because it's a gateway to better Kasabian songs.

7. What are Kasabian's best songs?

Comeback Kid, an album track from the new album, is a sublime retro-sixties banger. Bumblebee has swagger and a taint breaking chorus. From there it's "hey diddle diddle and straight down the middle" with two of their breakthrough hits from their debut album; Club Foot and Eez-Eh. 

8. Any more words?

Kasabian guitarist, Serge Pizzorno, wrote and produced For Crying Out Loud. 

Time To Change, a mental health organization in England, weren’t thrilled with Kasabian’s choice of lyrics saying they had used a “sad and tired” stereotype.

“Jibber, jabber, at the bargain booze,

And reciting Charles Bukowski, I got nothing to lose”

Shortstraw are a popular indie rock band from Johannesburg, South Africa. They have been making music since 2007 and have made three albums. Shortstraw sound like Good Charlotte, New Politics and Al Bairre. They are influenced by Foals, Paul Simon and Taking Back Sunday. Keep It In The Family (Nov'16) is the third single from the mini-album Those Meddling Kids (March'17). Keep It In The Family is mosh-pit filling, pop punk, with a stone to throw at absent fathers.

“Go tell your father in Santiago,
I got his daughter tied to my tree”

The Lulu Raes - Change My Tune

1.    Who are these heroes? 

Gaze on the majesty of The Lulu Raes, an indie pop rock band from Sydney, Australia. Change My Tune is a release from their debut E.P. All Our Parents Are Divorced (Aug'16). 

2. What kind of gas are they burning? 

Change My Tune is a busy little tune that bustles along bursting with energy. With a surf lick and a sunny vibe, and chaneling some Strokes garage slash 60's pop vibe, the tune will get you hot stepping. 

3. Who do The Lulu Raes sound like? 

The Strokes, Animal House and Foster The People.

4. What have the pillocks in the press said about Change My Tune?

“Shifts the band’s bubbly pop-nerd energy to the garage” – Rolling Stone Australia.

“Fucking unique and incomparable” – Wickedd Childd.

“Indie head banger” – AAA Backstage.

5. Whcih bands have influenced The Lulu Raes? 

Some of the main influences are The Strokes, The Pixies, Oasis, The Beatles and Macy Gray.

6. Why should I give Change My Tune a lash?

Change My Tune throws you off your guard, zigging when you think it will zag. That and the 60's surf pop sensibility married to new century garage makes for a trippy little tune with a bit of fire up it's arse.

7. Do The Lulu Raes have any more bangers?

Burnout is another interesting effort.

8. Any more words dude?

Not a dilly. 

“Damned if I do and damned if I don’t”

Two Gallants are an punk and blues-infused folk rock duo from San Francisco, California. They started on their musical odyssey in 2002 and have five long players on their battle honors. Two Gallants are influenced by the blues and bands like Nirvana, Pavement and Operation Ivy. The second album What The Toll Tells (2006) has the bands best two singles on it, Steady Rollin' and Las Cruces Jail. Las Cruces Jail is a romping tune Pitchfork called “a yowling cow-punk stomper.”

“I shot one man on the county line,

Took his dime and I blew his mind”

The Courteeners - The 17th

     1.    Who are these indie rock heroes? 

     The Courteeners are an indie rock band from Manchester, England, and have the finest band name in the world. The band have described themselves as the biggest underground rock band in the world. The 17th (Aug'16) is the lead song from The Courteeners' fifth album Mapping The Rendezvous (Oct'16).  

     2. What's The 17th like then? 

     A slow brooding song with an 80's synth pop feel and melancholic Morrisey-esque vocals cranks into life in the third minute and hits an expansive, joyful crescendo, with a guitar assist at the three and a half mark and a jubilant, scream-it-to-the-heavens, chorus. Special. An absolute belter.

    3. Who do The Courteeners sound like? 

     The Smiths. Catfish and The Bottlemen. Euphoriazine compared The 17^th to The 1975. The Guardian found general similarities with The Enemy and Hard-Fi. 

    4. What have the lords and ladies of the fourth estate said about The 17th? 

“A seductively cool night-stalker” – Vanya Land. 

“Sleek and sexy pop vibes” – Euphoriazine.

“Absolutely fucking sensational” – Gig Slutz. 

    5. Which bands have added to The Courteeners' magic? 

     The major influences on The Courteeners are Oasis, The Smiths and The Kinks. They have some love for M People, Simply Red and The Killers too.

    6. Why should I give The 17th a lash? 

    It's an epic tune. The Smiths for a new century. You can't help but love it; despite trying.

   

   

    7. Do The Courteeners have any more rousing fare?

     Sure they do. Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet, How Good It Was and Are You In Love With A Notion? to name but a few. 

    8. Any more words?

     The new album Mapping The Rendezvous was recorded by long-time Courteeners' producer Joe Cross (Kid Astray, Prides and Hurts).

“Everybody can hear you but nobodies listening”

    

   

    

     AWOLNATION are an electronic rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band started in 2009 and have two albums on their roll of honor. AWOLNATION’s debut long player, Megalithic Symphony (2011) went platinum and the hit single from it Sail sold five and a half million copies.  THISKIDSNOTALRIGHT (2012) was released on a video game soundtrack. The tune is a rip snorter that reminded Ear Milk of Nine Inch Nails and The Black Keys. Wrap up tight, shits about to get real...

“You can follow them to hell”

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - The Courteeners

Wow that voice. Those lyrics. The Courteeners Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet (Aug’14) has a wordy title and quite rightly. It’s a tune that paints an aural masterpiece of being the third wheel to the wrong kind of love. Not just that, it evokes the north of England and the people. Patently something special.

Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet? is a mild, swinging, pop song evocative of The Smiths or even The Housemartins. A song that men everywhere are thanking for making them think more deeply about how their selfish actions affect others. Yeah right. Big hearts in hairy chests are pounding and vaginas gushing listening to this track. No word of a lie, this is one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“The velvet rut looms large
And stands tall
A pelvic strut and then watch
His eyes crawl…”

The Courteeners are an indie rock band from Manchester formed in 2006. Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet ? is the fourth single from their fourth album Concrete Love (Aug’14).

Shit you need to know:

Of the song Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet? The Line Of Best Fit said it “trundles in a sort of faux-psych haze of vocal hums and reverberating tambourine” and is “cringingly sweet”. Another reviewer thought the tune is "custom-made for crowds to sing a long to." 

Concrete Love was produced by Joe Cross who has done the same for Kid Astray and Hurts.

The Courteeners were compared to Bastille and The 1975 by NME in a scathing review (5 out of 10 stars).“Concrete Love is nothing to beat their own drum about.” While another bitchy review (5 out of 10) said The Courteeners have, “a knack for writing catchy radio-friendly indie pop."

The Courteeners main influences are The Smiths, The Kinks and Oasis.

Morrissey is a big fan of The Courteeners, tipping them for breaking the American market. That was in 2008. Yeah don’t think they’re a household name yet Mozzer. 

Bono popped a zipper over  The Courteeeners saying they were the best band in ten years. And if that's not enough they were big upped by Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.

The band have described themselves as the, “…biggest underground band in the world”.


Check out Next Time You Call, How Good It Was and Are You In Love With A Notion for more great Courteeners. But especially Next Time You Call.

It's a real double up today as we've got another Courteener's tune but it's them doing a cover of The Smith's There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. So yeah, fucking awesome. Natch.

“Take me out tonight,

Where there’s music and there’s people,

Who are young and alive”