The Devil is dedicated to unearthing unknown, unheard, unseen, unheralded, unfamiliar or down right unbelievable bands old or new that have not yet hit the radars of the British public. If you are a new band or artist and would like to be considered for inclusion then please contact me via email, twitter, myspace or facebook.
White Lies From: Ealing, London, England Genre: Alternative rock / Post-punk revival / Indie rock
Formerly known as Fear of Flying, Ealing glum rockers White Lies are already on their way to mega stardom having featured in multiple "ones to watch" polls at the turn of this year, including the BBC's Sound of 2009 poll and the 2009 BRITs Critics' Choice Award. They were also the first British act of 2009 to achieve a number one album with 'To Lose My Life'.
The bands moody melancholic musical style has clearly proved a hit eliciting comparisons with Joy Division, Editors and Interpol, and with songs with uplifting titles like 'Death' it's hardly surprising! However all I can hear is the Teardrop Explodes. Lead singer Harry McVeigh's voice sound so like Julian Cope's it's uncanny, he'd be a shoe in for stars in your eyes as JC!
While White Lies knock spots off most of the current crop of 'indie' bands and their influences sound like a trawl through my record collection their sound is just a little too well produced, a little too clinical, clean and manufactured a little too glossy. This is a common problem with a lot of music today (and I know that makes me sound like your grandad!) which takes it's inspiration from the greats of the past and then produces the life out of it. Music is better raw with the rough edges left in. So if White Lies could scuff it up a little, tone down the sheen and lock the producer in the toilet on their next album then their ascension to rock immortality is assured.
Go Try
MP3 - White Lies - Only Ones Who Know (Arctic Monkeys Cover) MP3 - White Lies - Nothing Is Forever If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from White Lies Last.FM site so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. Go Visit
Bicycle Thieves Genre: Indie / Glum Rock From: Liverpool, United Kingdom A word of advice from the Devil. If you're from Liverpool and you don't want to perpetuate the myth (and it is a myth no matter what the scouse hating media say) that all scousers are robbers then don't call your band Bicycle Thieves!
That aside it's a great name, a name which they could have adopted from the Pale Fountains song, the 1940s French film or memories of a misspent youth and one which they share with London indie folkies The Bicycle Thieves (the definite article is the crucial differentiator) and Russian electronistas Bicycle Thieves (sans definite).
The band have got five varied tracks of their myspace site which betray a range of influences and their scouse refusal to get tied down. 'Eggshells' is dense and heavy and sounds like a fist fight between Kasabian and The Zutons while 'Red & Black' could be The Coral gone hardcore. 'Galavant', praised by none other than TV/Radio Presenter and professional mancunian Terry Christian in the NME (see right),is an altogether lighter affair pitched somewhere between the majesty of The Delays and the eccentricity of The Wild Beasts.
Of the other tracks on the bands myspace site 'Story of The Year'harks back to the adrenaline rush of the early Wah Heat singles, coming on like 'Story of The Blues' and 'Better Scream' while 'Stop to Start' sounds like 'Heaven Up Here' era Echo & The Bunnymen . This is a band that knows where it cam from, knows where it's going, and knows where it belongs and is not afraid to borrow (or is that thieve) from it's heritage to create the future. If you want to find out more about the rich tapestry of Liverpool bands of the 1980s then check out the fantastic and incredibly comprehensive Music...Isms.
As a grizzly old Tory once said it's time to get on your bike but I don't think he meant for you to steal it first!
Go Try MP3 - Bicycle Thieves - Eggshells If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Bicycle Thieves so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Wolf Am I Genre: Indie From: Berkshire, London and South East , United Kingdom Wolf Am I, a gang of brothers recently formed from the ashes of Kill the Arcade and various other bands , are set to release debut album 'Lead the Way' on 10th August through Alcopop Records
'Lead the Way' is a powerful collection of emotional songs,a deep, dynamic, three-dimensional broken heart of a record, filled with dark drama and shadowy, shimmery textures. It is filled with tales of love, loss, disappointment but ultimately ambition, drive, reflection and hope.
Go Try
MP3 - Wolf Am I - Lex Talionis If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Alcopop! Records so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Ah Holly Fam'ly Genre: Americana / Indie From: Portland, Oregon, United States
The eight-piece, kaleidoscope-folk troupe Ah Holly Fam'ly formed in the culturally sparse and desperate landscapes of rural Idaho, before packing up for their current home of Portland, Oregon. The paired voices of married duo Becky Dawson and Jeremy Faulkner tow a thematic line between a deconstruction of the sentimental, and a celebration of it.
The band's debut album 'Reservoir'flirts with the memories of youth, where man-made bodies of water built for agriculture and industry became places of recreation. At once fragile and overwhelming, the sophisticated avant folk chamber pop of Ah Holly Fam'ly courses a steady path on 'Reservoir', a place where the past meets the present, where familiarity is concealed by alienation, a sound that hearkens back to the rural Appalachian folk of yesterday, and the avant folk experimentalism of today.
If Sufjan Stevens bungee jumped with Beirut Ah Holly Fam'ly 'Reservoir' would be the sound of their fear.
Go Try
MP3 - Ah Holly Fam'ly - Young Veins If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Green Light Go Publicity so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
And if you like Ah Holly Fam'ly then check out this track from family member Amelia Harnass...
MP3 - Amelia Harnass - Waiting For Jacob If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from Amelia's Last.FM site so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Hallo... I Love You Genre: Showtunes / Idol / Melodramatic Popular Song From: United Kingdom
Hallo...I Love You is the side project of Chris McIntosh, lead singer with Liverpool band 28 Costumes (featured on the Devil's blog back in October 2007, Liverpool Explodes Again). Chris took some time out to share his thoughts on Asda Smart Price Bran Flakes, his love of The Wire (the TV Programme not the band!) and his vision for 10 years of success for Hallo...I Love You. The Devil: Why Hallo...I Love You? What other names did you consider before finally deciding it had to be Hallo...I Love You?
Chris: I never really considered any other name for the band! I was in Berlin with some friends a few years ago and one of my chums fell asleep in a bar so I designed a sleeve for him using a marker pen...it was kind of an elegant swan splitting waves but it was also kind of phallic and I gave it a speech bubble that said 'Hallo...I Love You!'. So it was from there it came really.
The Devil: What makes you stand out from the millions of other bands in the world? What makes you unique?
Chris: I think it's a combination of a couple of things. I think the songs have to be of a certain standard but it's the way they come about. What you hear on a finished Hallo...I Love You! record is a very different creature from the way it was written. I always write on either an acoustic guitar or a keyboard and even sometimes the on-screen keyboard in Garageband. What happens then is I take it to the studio and play the song as I have written it and then we start building from there. We never EVER know what the finished product will sound like as we always try one thing and then go the complete opposite way. It's a really interesting way of working as there are literally no rules and no boundaries that you have when you are a conventional guitar band...sometimes it can sound more ridiculous than not, but it's always super fun getting there.
The Devil: What was the first record that you owned and what was the first you bought yourself?
Chris: I remember being asked what CD I would like for Christmas off my Aunty when I was really young and my answer was Technotronic's Body to Body. I still have it actually which is amazing given the fact that I've lost nearly all of my cd's in different house moves and what have you. The first record I bought myself was R.E.M.'s Shiny Happy People! I still love that song and it started a huge on-going love affair with the band.
The Devil: What is the best book you've read and the best film you've ever seen?
Chris: Without wanting to sound like a massive pretentious Divvy (a Liverpool term for a fool - The Devil) , I love Dostoyevsky. Crime and Punishment is my favourite book followed VERY closely by The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4. I don't know about the best film ever but my favourite is either Stand By Me or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I think. It changes a lot. I've just watched all 5 series of The Wire in about 3 weeks so it's pretty much difficult to think of anything else right now!
The Devil: Other than yourself who are the bands/artists that have excited you most this year?
Chris: I've heard Voo's new album and it blew my mind so much. Such a powerful and moving band. House That Jack Built are a band from Liverpool that have just come through and are kinda like Gang of Four and XTC and lyrically spot on. I also really love the new Metronomy stuff and their album 'Nights Out' is off the hook. The Devil:Who's your favourite actor or actress and why?
Chris: It's a bit of an obvious one but I love Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp together in films.
The Devil: What's the strangest place you've ever played and would you go back there?
Chris: The strangest place I ever played was in Germany a few years ago. We (28 Costumes) had a free night and we were staying in this really picturesque little village called Neumagen near Trier. It's all Vineyards and little Wine Gardens and amazingly quaint houses. Anyway, the guy we were staying with asked us if we'd be interested in playing at his friends stag/hen party. We happily obliged as he said they were willing to pay us 25 boxes of wine! It was NOTHING like the type of Stag party you might expect here - it was in the middle of the street and they had covered the whole road with loads of hay and had a little generator to power us. We played in the middle of all these Vineyards whilst the sun went down with enough wine to keep a man drunk for a very long time...the people were so grateful, even though our music was probably way too loud and inappropriate for the type of bash it was (grandmas, children, dogs). Would I play it again?? Fuck yeah! Awesome stuff!! The Devil: If you weren't a musician what would you be doing?
Chris: Earning money. For certain!
The Devil: What are you doing to beat the credit crunch? Any tips on saving money for the Devil's readers?
Chris: You know that Asda's own brand of Smart Price Bran Flakes cost 72p for a massive box and they equal to if not better than Kellogs. FACT. Don't be put off cos it's smart price...some of it is ace. Not the baked beans though, don't get them.
The Devil: If you were interviewing yourself what would be your killer question and how would you answer it?
Chris: This is quite a killer question.
Where do you see the band in 10 years?
I'd like to release 6 albums. The first two would go out of it's way to provide you with a pop-fix that's like your favourite sweets. Album 3 would be more like a dark treat, say a Fry's Chocolate Mint. Album no.4 is going to be completely and strictly a guitar album with no electronic stuff in, more like a Lamd Dhansak. Album 5 I think will be hugely poppy again, this would be like too much sherbit - just all over your face and everywhere. Album 6 should be a musical of everything combined...something completely outrageous like a champagne-fruitbowl. Whatever that is. There you go. Surprises ruined!
The Devil: Anything else you'd like to say to the Devil's readers?
Chris: For now, just a listen would be lovely! Ta!
Go Try
MP3 - Hallo...I Love You - Hello I Love You If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Hallo...I Love You so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
jamesgilbody.co.uk Flamboyant Bella Genre: Indie / Pop From: Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England
They may have one of the worst names in modern music, a name that sounds like it was plucked from one of those cards that ladies of dubious morals leave in telephone boxes, but that doesn't seem to be holding Flamboyant Bella back. With reviews in national newspapers in the UK, almost 2 million plays of their myspace tracks and having topped the site's indie and electro unsigned chart they've had already more exposure than a flasher at the north pole.
You can see why the myspace watchers out there are flocking to the Flamboyant Bella site. They're poppier than Bananarama flavoured lemonade and on tracks like the attention seeking 'Absolutely Wankered' they sound like a foul mouthed Kate Nash having a tourettes competition with Transvision Vamp. With subjects ranging from alcohol to sex and, err that's it, and singer Flo Kirton's Lily Allen vocal inflections Flamboyant Bella could well be the black sheep of the Brit School family
Go Try
MP3 - Flamboyant Bella - Absolutely Wankered If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from the Flamboyant Bella last.fm site so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Road Race Genre: Alternative // Tot Rock From: Portland, US
Road Race is Kirkland Leach. He's 9 (that's not a misprint he is nine years old). He is autistic. He lives in North Portland and is already a veritable veteran of the Portland indie world who, if legend is to be believed, has been recording music since he was two years old!! He's just released an album on the experimental music laboratory North Pole Records home to Devil's favourites Dramady & Miss Massive Snowflake.
Housed in a neat 3D cover, which comes with a dinky pair of 3D glasses and is hand drawn by Kirkland himself, the Road Race album 'The Adventures of Rocketboy and Egypt' isa concept album based around the pre-teen life of Kirkland, his alter ego Rocketboy and Egypt, otherwise known as Shane De Leon aka Miss Massive Snowflake. With subjects from fleet footed superheroes to volcanoes, from DJ Shadow to riding scooters and an unhealthy obsession with cheerleaders the album covers the typical obsessions of nine year olds.
At his worst, 'Picking Your Ears'and 'Time', Road Race sounds a little too much like a precocious brat let loose in the schools music room but fortunately, and maybe surprisingly given his tender age, these are the exceptions rather than the rule. On tracks like the Devil's favourite 'Dragon Shoes', 'A 70 Minute Adventure', 'Road Race Saves The Day', 'Volcano Universe' he sounds like a lo-fi, primary school Breeders.
It's all over the front page, I give you Road Race.
Go Try
MP3 - Road Race - Rocketboy If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of North Pole Records so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. Go Buy
Mike Genius Genre: Electro / Dub / Japanese Pop From: Brooklyn, New York, United States
If Kite In The Air's (see the Devil's blog, Let's Go Fly A Kite) Mike Genius solo outing was any more underground it'd be blind and call itself a mole. Check out his myspace site for some underground nu-rave electro that bangs like a shithouse door in a hurricane and growls like a feral beast.
'Simon Says Turbulence Edit ' pounds the brain like a sledgehammer cracking your nut, it's like Paul Hardcastle's'19' performed by a steel factory. 'Love Me' is world music although the world in question is not of this solar system while 'Reckoner Remix' sounds like a call to prayers at the church of the digital mind.
You better get the nuclear bunkers ready because this is about to explode. Go Try
The Jannocks Genre: Psychedelic / Blues / Jam Band From: Manchester, United Kingdom
The Jannocks looking like pillocks
Seven strong Manchester troupe The Jannocks (Jannock - adj: pleasant; outspoken; honest; generous) are self professed purveyors of bastardised pyschedelic rhythm & blues forged from the remnants of pop-punksters The Magic O's and avant-garde noiseniks Slick Myness.
The band's best track by a country mile is the psych rock sea shanty 'Monte Carlo' which recalls the eclectic eccentricity and unnerring pop nouse of the early days of The Coral. None of the other tracks on the band's myspace site quite live up to the exhilarating 'Monte Carlo' although 'The Devil In The Drink' and 'Silver City Truths', which both sound like the ghost of Jim Morrison is haunting the lungs of singer Tom Warden, push it close.
If they can exorcise the ghost of the Lizard King, turn the wig out dial down a notch or two and follow the path to psych pop perfection suggested by 'Monte Carlo' then their forthcoming self-released EP (tentatively titled 'Promoveo') will be a breath of fresh air for a putrid music scene.
Jarmean? Genre: Punk / Showtunes / Melodramatic Popular Song From: Babylon-don, London and South East United Kingdom
Cockney sparrows Jarmean? (a common sound heard in the pubs and clubs of old London town a contraction of 'you know what I mean') sound like participants in a time travelling experiment. Whisked from their comfortable world as extras in a 1950s episode of the Good Old Days to an alternate reality; a place of horror, a place of noise, a place of despair, a place that they call Babylon-don With 'Mind The Gap', the band's first mass-produced attempt to bring the spirit of the blitz to the internet generation the band are about to do for music hall what the Pogues did for the Irish jig and the Dresden Dolls did for Cabaret. It's brave, some would say foolhardy,and a difficult thing to pull off without sounding like outtakes from the Bugsy Malone soundtrack. And while the tracks on the band's myspace site do skirt a little too close to Chas 'n Dave and Tommy Steele for comfort they're infused with wit, flair and more spirit than a London during the blitz.
'Mind The Gap' is a subversive little ditty that's perfect for the beckoning era of hard times. Mind the gap between what you hope for and what you get, between the photo-shopped, unattainable lifestyles of the celebrities in the brain numbing glossy mags and the scraping by, minimum wage slavery, drown your sorrow realities of life. The two other songs on the Jarmean? single also emphasize how false hope can warp people's lives; 'Prophets of Doom' tells of a lady who reads that vile shit-rag 'The Daily Mail' too much becoming obsessed with an impending apocalypse while 'Baby Doll' relates the story of a man who was so in love with consumerism that he married a sex-doll, with tragic consequences.
Live Jarmean? are committed to entertaining as well as preparing Babylon-don for revolution, performing high-energy, thoughtful songs that don't preach. They are the punk band that parties like its 1909, travelling through time and space to bring to Babylon-don what it so badly needs: something different. Madness, madness they call it madness!
After her much lauded 2007 debut album 'Army Behind The Sun' and largely forgotten appearance on an episode of Mary Queen of Shops London electro popstrel and fashionista Coco Electrik (featured on the Devil's blog in November and December last year Going Coco In Acapulco & I Should Coco) returns with her new single 'Shine A Light' tomorrow, July 20th.
Taken from the forthcoming second album 'White Ink' it was recorded between studios in Brighton and the no-mans-land mining outpost Port Hedland, Australia (Google it... it really is in the middle of nowhere). Reuniting Anne Booty with longtime collaborator Paul Harrison (aka Royal Appointment, ex Mains Ignition) 'Shine A Light' is poppier than a team of balloon testing hedgehogs hitting a thrilling balance somewhere between a souped up Donna Summer and Daft Punk. The Kreeps (Output Records, Horror’s touring support) remix intensifies the dancefloor leanings of the original resulting in a disco-not-disco club slayer. Meanwhile the dub turns up the tribal drums and adds lashings of the fifth dimension!
Don't drive like a James Dean, shine a light with Coco Electrik.
Go Try
MP3 - Coco Electrik - Shine A Light If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are published with the permission of Coco Electrik + Oscillation Recordsso please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright Go Visit
Alexa Wilding Genre: Visual / Experimental From: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Few songstresses cut their teeth on more surprising stuff. After all, not every brunette with an acoustic guitar has the good fortune of being best known for her work alongside former Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert in International Shades. Now do they?
But there’s an expiration date on Brooklynite Alexa Wilding’s (who interestingly shares her name with a member of the pre-raphaelite sisterhood painted by Dante Rossetti, well I found it interesting!) “best known” distinction, as the siren singer is set to release her debut EP, a capstone paean to Laura Nyro, Sandy Denny, and the fleet of strong, gilded female songwriters they inspired.
Conceived and written by Wilding, the release is a chilling whisper, a beautifully corralled song cycle that moves seamlessly from piece to piece, echoing years of history and decades more of possibility. It’s as tender as a butterfly's wing, as poetic as a baby's smile and imbued with more charm than a water nymphs hen party
Rachel Taylor Brown Genre: Alternative / Indie / Other From: Portland, Oregon, United States After a nervous breakdown and a lonely eight years of solitude living as a hermit Portland singer songwriter Rachel Taylor Brown has emerged from a dark, dark tunnel to channel her inner demons into an hypnotic and intriguing world of sound.
Rachel has taken some time out to share her influences, what she'd be doing if she wasn't a musician and how the Devil has destroyed her newly found confidence (for which I apologise profusely). The Devil: The Devil thinks that you sound a kinda like PJ Harvey having an unsavoury tryst with Kate Bush. Who are your biggest influences?
Rachel Taylor Brown: What a lovely thing to say! I greatly admire both Polly Jean and Kate. Randy Newman because he's so good at humor and ugly beauty, sometimes all at once. Hugo Distler, Benjamin Britten, The Beatles.
The Devil: What makes you stand out from the millions of other artists in the world? What makes you unique?
Rachel Taylor Brown: Thinking about an answer to this question has destroyed my self confidence. (I'm sorry - The Devil)
The Devil: What was the first record that you owned and what was the first you bought yourself?
Rachel Taylor Brown: I don’t think I bought it myself but I was obsessed as a kid with the concept album (NOT the musical theater album) of "Jesus Christ Superstar," w/ Ian Gillan of Deep Purple as Jesus and Murray Head as Judas. It has a skanky, dirty, tattered-at-the-edges-yet-epic sound to it. I wanted to be a hybrid (Jedus) and always sang both parts. I still get chills listening to it. The Devil: What is the best book you've read and the best film you've ever seen?
Rachel Taylor Brown: Book - "Cruddy" by Lynda Barry (anything by Lynda Barry).
Film - "Baran" (Majid Majidi).
The Devil: Other than yourself who are the artists that have excited you most this year?
Rachel Taylor Brown: ("other than myself," well...) Anyone who doesn't sound like Billie Holliday crossed with a little girl. That voice is really getting on my nerves. Tom Jones'--"24 Hours." Tom growls "I'm a MAN!" and you just gotta move. I like The Quavers, out of Brooklyn, NY. And Antonio Saraiva from Brazil--he has this song "O Segredo" that I go back to again and again. Kinda Charles Ives-like. The Devil:Who's your favourite actor or actress and why?
Rachel Taylor Brown: Sophie Thompson--a fucking amazing actress who's not in enough movies.
The Devil: What's the strangest place you've ever played and would you go back there?
Rachel Taylor Brown: St. Paul's Cathedral in London w/ Cappella Romana. When we weren't singing I went downstairs. The entire basement is a crypt, paved w/ gravestones. It’s mostly military guys. But I stumbled across the composer and minor movie star, Ivor Novello. It was a nice moment, finding him in all the military bombast. He must be lonely. I'd go back, yes!
The Devil: If you weren't a musician what would you be doing?
Rachel Taylor Brown: Probably something menial. I've had a lot of jobs in my lifetime. Picking berries, driving a forklift, filling caulking tubes with what looked like exploding poo. I can write and edit fascinating engineering copy. Having shitty jobs increases your confidence. I figure I can do anything, except become a ballerina.
The Devil: What are you doing to beat the credit crunch? Any tips on saving money for the Devil's readers? Rachel Taylor Brown: If you cook a bunch of dried beans, remember you need to rinse them and change the water in between, because if you don’t you’re in for gastric trouble. Also, cooking a bunch of beans really stinks up a house and it takes all day. It’s maybe better to just buy cooked beans. The Devil: If you were interviewing yourself what would be your killer question and how would you answer it?
Rachel Taylor Brown: What would Jedus do? (i'm at a loss--but he would steal the show) The Devil: Anything else you'd like to say to the Devil's readers? Rachel Taylor Brown: "Hail Satan! To hell with you!"(borrowed from Mr. Show and The Hail Satan Network). And thanks, The Devil.
Go Try
MP3 - Rachel Taylor Brown - Bruce Wayne's Bastard Son If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of In Music We Trust so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. MP3 - Rachel Taylor Brown - St Brigid Of Broadway MP3 - Rachel Taylor Brown - I Love You If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from Rachel Taylor Brown's website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. Go Visit
Fl!M Genre: Electronica / Pop / Indie From: Jakarta, Indonesia FL!M is the pseudonym for one Ferdi Salim an Indonesian insomniac who spent the zombie hours messing around with GarageBand on his Apple Macbook. Initially the project was to be called Six Feet Under until Ferdi realised that this was also the name of a US metal band forcing the change of name to FL!M (Ferdi's eLectronIc Music, the use of the exclamation mark is a quirky affectation). I better not tell him that there is a Swedish trip hopper who also goes by the name Flim then.
If Daniel Miller had been born in Indonesia and afflicted with insomnia with only a laptop for company then The Normal would have sounded like Fl!m, probably.
Go Try
MP3 - FL!M - Blur MP3 - FL!M - Lost & Found If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with permission from Flim so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
Slideshow Freak Genre: Alternative / Electronica / Other From: Naples, Florida United States
His name is Jamie, he's an Englishman and he makes music. He calls himself 'Slideshow Freak' (featured on the Devil's blog way back in August 2007 with their cover of T'Pau's China In Your Hand, More Filth From Those Little Angels) when he nakes music on his own and when he teams up with his good friend Joe Wood he calls the band The Roy Jesus Experience.
In his solo guise Jamie's released a new EP, We Should Swing, this week on Filthy Little Angels which is a real showcase for his talent. He is a great lyricist as the Devil's favourite track on the EP 'Something More' demonstrates with it's poetic chorus 'I've Spent My Life On My Back But Never Seen The Stars, And If I Never Relax It's 'Cause I'd Fall Apart.' A couplet that resonates so much with me that I'm going to seek out the neighbourhood psychotherapist for a counselling session. 'We Should Swing (For What We've Done)' has a title that Morrissey would be proud of and is a wierd fairground ride of song which twists and bends like a double jointed Russian gymnast.
Of the other tracks on the EP 'This Town' sounds like a newly discovered relic found by a musical archeologist in the ruins of Cee Bee Gee Bees, 'Time & Time Again' is a sleazy, slinky lo-fi bucket of sleaze while 'Get Up & Go' is a shuffling, scuffling indie gem. The only track on the EP that failed to hit the Devil's spot is 'Lost & Found', a lumbering downer of a song that meanders around without ever seeming to arrive at it's destination. But no-one's perfect and, with a ratio of 5 hits to 1 miss, 'We Should Swing' is well worth checking out.
The EP is available via iTunes and will also be available for FREE for 1 month from the Filthy Little Angels website.
The woodwork squeaks and out come Slideshow Freak.
Go Try
MP3 - Slideshow Freak - This Town MP3 - Slideshow Freak - Something More If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Filthy Little Angels so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright. Go Visit
Catherine A.D. Genre: Alternative / Melodramatic Popular Song / Gothic From: London, United Kingdom
Gothic folk chanteuse Catherine AD has scarlet hair (dyed) and a black throat (real). To date she has released three spine chilling DIY EPs, which she’s been drip-dropping out into the world whilst finishing university and learning to play a multitude of instruments to accompany a voice that Courtney Love has described as "gorgeous sick beautiful" and Catherine herself as 'pirate radio for the heartbreak'.
There's angst and bucketloads of melodrama in Catherine's songs which sound like Everything But The Girl if they'd been brought up by child beating witches in a Transylvanian cave jointly owned by PJ Harvey and This Mortal Coil. She looks like a doll, albeit the anti Barbie, and sings like an angel, albeit one that's fallen from grace and spent a tour of duty in purgatory. Cathy (can I call you that?) could just be the antidote to the recent epidemic of Duffy that's plagued the world.
Catherine is on the cusp of stardom having been recording her songs with Bernard Butler (Suede, Cribs) and Liam Howe (Sneaker Pimps, Marina and the Diamonds), mixing stirring pop hooks, hand claps, snarls of guitar, glimmers of keyboard and serrated vocal somersaults into her cauldron of midnight piano and treacly growling. She’s even taken to covering a Friendly Fires song, 'Paris' (see below), and recently supported David Gilmour at his one-off Union Chapel show.
Ahead of completing her debut album, Catherine is releasing a succession of hand-picked remixes which will all be free to download. The first track, the Sweet Billy Pilgrim (featured on the Devil's blog in January this year, Pilgrim Fathers) remix of 'Hand to the Tide' is available to download now from Catherine's Last.FM site or from the Devil's site below.
If your spine hasn't been effectively chilled for a while then Catherine A.D. is a better option than lying in a freezer for a few hours.
Flash Bang Band Genre: Melodramatic Popular Song / Experimental / Pop From: Brighton, London and South East, United Kingdom
Flash Bang Band formed in Brighton, UK towards the end of 2008. The quartet hail from a variety of influences and, using their tanking rhythm section, they drive nostalgic melodies and memorable, more often than not slightly wonky songs to captivate audiences.
Although the band are relatively freshly minted and despite saddling themselves with a bit of a naff name they've already turned more than a few heads in their home town of Brighton and have just launched their debut ep 'Random Acts Of Kindness' which you can order from their myspace site.
Of the six tracks on the EP three of them can be heard on their myspace site. 'I Want To Better Myself' sounds like they've been perfecting ways to compress the entire Super Furry Animalsouevre into one song while 'Questions' could be the revved up funk soul brother of the Welsh wizards. If I didn't know better I'd swear that the other track on the site, 'The Rhythm Inside You', which incidentally has some of the best pop whistling this side of Peter Bjorn and John, is a refugee from a long lost Kinks album.
If they carry on like this they won't just be a flash in the pan.
Jordan Galland Genre: French PopFrom: New York, United States New York City filmmaker and musician Jordan Galland, formerly of the band Dopo Yume, is best known for his work on Daniel Merriweather’s latest album 'Love & War'. Jordan wrote 'Cigarettes' and 'Live By Night' whichRyan Adams described as “Perfect, like a blowjob on a yacht”... oh how I wish I'd said that!).
If Ryan Adams' description has perked your interest in Jordan you'll be please to find out that he has just released his debut-solo album, 'Airbrush'.
Inspired by Serge Gainsbourg, Leonard Cohen and early Françoise Hardy, Galland's cerebral lyrics are set to pop melodies that mix horns, dreamy backing vocals and curious homemade beats - creating a spooky and intimate sound.
There are two tracks courtesy of the Devil (and OffCentralPR) for you to try out. 'They Always Come Back' starts like Jerri's 'Go Fight Your War' before launching into what sounds like a more focused Pete Doherty in a beret smoking a gauloise. While 'Everyone Else Is Boring' sounds like the Libertines if they'd been born next to the Seine rather than the Thames.
If you like your pop to come equipped with intelligence and a certain je ne sais quoi then pack your bags and head for Jordan.
White Lies
