Going To The Dogs

Dog Day
From: Ha La, Nova Scotia, Canada

If you've been searching for the future of indie rock then call off the hounds as Canadian duo Dog Day could well be the answer to your prayers. They sound like the result of a genetic experiment involving the genes of REM and Pavement and if that doesn't get your indie senses tingling then nothing will.

In a world where musical careers are shorter than the lifespan of a philandering mantis, they've taken a while to become overnight sensations. They released their debut EP, Thank You, in 2005 (as a foursome) and have already released two albums but I do recall a band a few years ago who languished in semi obscurity until the release of their third album.

Could Dog Day repeat the White Stripes vertiginous ascent from the sidelines to the summit? Here's hoping.

Go Try

Check out the Dog Day's new stuff...

MP3 - Dog Day - Scratches
This track is published with the permission of Shark Attack Media so please don't claim breach of copyright

Check out Dog Day's earlier stuff...

MP3 - Dog Day - Synastry
MP3 - Dog Day - Lydia
MP3 - Dog Day - Wait It Out
These tracks are linked direct from the Dog Day website and are therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

Dog Day - Myspace : Last.FM

Go View

Check them out when they were a four piece...

Dog Day
Use Your Powers

Look Before You Leap

The Voyeurist
From: United Kingdom

The Voyeurist are cooler than an Ipad in a freezer and I'm surprised that they didn't make the Glastonbury ETC final on 2nd April (check out the final 8 here). If bands like the Devil's top three and The Voyeurist didn't make the final eight then it must have been really difficult for the judges and I don't envy them. Although if you're reading Sue I can make myself available in two years time if there's a space on the judges panel.

I wasn't privy to the deliberations of the judging panel but maybe the band's dark and distant pop from the monochromatic zone of the electro spectrum would be best experienced in a dark, dingy, claustrophobic basement club rather than the wide open spaces of the Glastonbury main stage.

They may have missed out on Glastonbury but The Voyeurist are a band to keep your eyes on.

Go Try

His face was a spider. by TheVoyeurist


Go Visit

The Voyeurist - Myspace : Last.FM : Soundcloud

Genre Bending

Fists
From: Nottingham, Midlands, United Kingdom

Fists were featured back in March last year (Fist Fighting) when I described them as rockabilly rebels with a fine line in noisy, ramshackle rock that fizzes like a mouthful of refreshers. Well they've come a long way in 12 short months. They're still noisy and they still have the odd ramshackle rockabilly gem like Skit in their armoury but today they're taking genre bending to a whole new level. This is one band that won't be falling into any of the usual pigeon holes.

Devil's favourite Ascending sounds like a rough edged Catatonia after a night on the town while the simply astounding Stag sounds like The Black Angels opening The Doors of perception. Then just when you think you've got them sussed they throw in a curve ball like the folky Groundman where they go all Moldy Peaches on us or the insane Squirl Squeek which sound like The Talking Heads doing unmentionable things with The Cramps back catalogue. They're a one band John Peel show.

There's nothing the poor old blogger can do but roll with Fists' punches and enjoy the fight.

Go Try

Stag by Fists

Ascending by Fists

Go Visit

Fists - Myspace : Website : Last.FM

Go View

Fists
Ascending

Coco Van

Coco Electrik
From: London, United Kingdom

Black Widow, the new single from the mistifyingly ignored Coco Electrik (first featured on the Devil's blog way back in November 2008, Going Coco In Acapulco and at regular intervals since, I Should Coco and She's Electric), is a vibrant Goldfrapp cocktail with a slice of The Knife on the side. Will it propel them to their rightful place astride the pinnacle of the pop charts? I'd like to think so but then I've been misjudging, and over estimating, the tastes of the great British public for over five years.

Go Try

Black Widow feat. Kreeps by Coco Electrik

Go Visit

Coco Electrik - Myspace : Last.FM

Video Killed The Radio Star 27th March 2011

Here are the videos that caught the Devil's eye this week...

Life Bitter Soul
Oxygen



Summer Fiction
Chandeliers



Cult of Dom Keller
Sa Wa Roh

This is so far out it should be the theme tune to Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe.



The Bullitts
Close Your Eyes



Nice Purse
Panther Like Me



Jesca Hoop
City Bird

Jesca Hoop: City Bird Music Video from Filmatics on Vimeo.

The Devil's Round Up 27th March 2011

This weeks round up of the tracks that I haven't had the space to post is an electronica special...

Pop Smear
From: New York, United States

How could the Devil's blog resist a song called Lucifer especially one that sounds like it's been locked in Neil Tennant's basement until the world was ready for it.

Go Try

Lucifer by popsmear

Strangers

From: The 80s Probably

Darkly poppy with a hint of the Pet Shop Boys (clearly a key reference point for a number of the new wave of bands), a hint of menace and a hint of nights spent immersed in the electro pop boom of the early 80s.

Go Try

[STRANGERS] - IF I FOUND LOVE (E.P 1) by [STRANGERS]

The Narrows

From: Manchester, United Kingdom

Dark futuristic electro guilt pop edged with paranoia and guilt. If Ian Curtis were alive he'd run the fan club.

Go Try

Initials MM by The Narrows

The Dogs
From: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Raucous pop which bites.

Go Try

Dance More by The Dogs

Tiny Birds
From: London, United Kingdom

Tiny Birds sound like Hefner after a crash course in the history of English folk music.

Go Try

Hymn For The Careless by tinybirds

Golau Glau
From: Leeds, England/ Criccieth, Wales, United Kingdom
More modern melodic pop from the mysterious Golau Glau. It sounds like Young Marble Giants upgraded for the digital age.

Go Try

Golau Glau - Tiny Satellites by Golau Glau

The Darlingtons
From: Taunton, United Kingdom

Anthemic glum rock that recalls the sonic majesty of The Sound.

Go Try

Winter by OracleMusic Mgmt

Wreck & Reference
From : California, United States

Doom rock that makes Joy Division sound like a comedy troupe.

Go Try

MP3 - Wreck and Reference - Surrendering
This track is published with the permission of Wreck and Reference so please don't claim breach of copyright

Zebra Tracks
From: Athens, Greece


Old school shoegaze with the distortion dial set to max and the melody button turned to high.

Go Try

Zebra Tracks - Bicycles by Zebra Tracks

Noah and the Whale
From: London, United Kingdom

A wierd, mind bending and quite awesome remix of Noah and the Whale L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N courtesy of Fake Blood. A contender for remix of the year. While I'm at it does anyone else think that the original mix sounds like Paul Young's 'Love Of The Common People'?

Go Try

Noah And The Whale - "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N" - FAKE BLOOD Mix by Fake Blood

The Devil's Electronica Special

The popularity of the Devil's weekly round ups (tune in tomorrow for the latest) and the Devil's Witch House primer got me thinking what about an irregular series of round-ups of tracks from a particular genre. Hence today's post is dedicated to rounding up some Electronica tracks I've stumbled upon over the past few weeks...

Wild Vibes

From: New York, United States

Mind expanding psychotropic dub electronica.

Go Try

Female Bass Player by Wild Vibes

Baked Clouds
From: London, United Kingdom

More mind expanding electronica with added found sounds, bleeps and glitches.

Go Try

MP3 - Baked Clouds - I Have No Money
This track is linked direct from the Baked Clouds Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Aparatec

From: United Kingdom


Skittering bytes and beats from the former incarnation of Rival Console's R L West.

Go Try

Aparatec – Vemeer by erasedtapes

Rival Consoles
From: United Kingdom

A dancefloor filler for the robotic generation from the current incarnation of Aparatec's R L West.

Go Try


Rival Consoles – 1985 by erasedtapes

Wisp
From: Niagara Falls, Buffalo NY, United States

Ambient electronica with more glitches than a faulty matrix

Go Try

MP3 - Wisp - Out Of Season
This track is linked direct from the Wisp Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

The British Expeditionary Force
From: Newcastle, United Kingdom

The British Expeditionary Force put the new in Newcastle and get the brain cells dancing.

Go Try

The British Expeditionary Force – A Long Way From Home (Rival Consoles RMX) by erasedtapes

Kiasmos
From: Iceland

A new age Kraftwerk if they'd been born by a fjord.

Go Try

Kiasmos - 65 by erasedtapes

Oh Brother

Twin Brother
From: Brighton, United Kingdom

After waxing lyrical about the amazing Twin Sister last year I thought I'd keep the Equality and Human Rights Commission off my case by checking out Brighton's Alex Wells aka Twin Brother (not to be confused with his non identical American relatives Twin Brother).

Judging by the tracks on his Soundcloud site it seems that this Twin Brother (one of the Glastonbury ETC 8, check out the other 7 here) is suffering an identity crisis, either that or a severe bout of musical schizophrenia. The amazing Lungs sounds like it's adopted some mathematical formula for the perfect indie sound. TS + AM = IPP (The Strokes plus Arctic Monkeys equals indie pop perfection). It's yet another contender for the Devil's top 10 of the year (which is rapidly turning into the top 100!!!).

Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be an entirely repeatable formula judging by the other tracks 'Nothing Stays' sounds like a Ryan Adams b-side (I swear I even heard a few notes from Adams' 'Nuclear') while the folky The Actor and Backseat Routine stray into Americana territory. They're not bad they just don't scale the musical heights of the indie tastic 'Lungs'.

If I was a psychiatrist I'd recommend that Twin Brother sort out his familial differences and focus his efforts on recreating the secret formula for the creation of Lungs and surely glory will be his reward.

Go Try

Lungs by twinbrother

The Actor (ft. Will Mussett) by twinbrother

Backseat Routine by twinbrother

Go Visit

Twin Brother - Myspace : Last.FM : Soundcloud

Go View

Twin Brother
Fool You (Live)

Pet Sounds

Pet Scenes

From: London, United Kingdom

I judge a lot of the music I listen to by whether they'd have made it to the revered John Peel's radio show. I can guarantee that London twisted surf rockers Pet Scenes would have been firm Peel favourites. Man Contest sounds like someone spot welded pure rock 'n roll distilled from the sweat of Iggy Pop to the rear end of an unheard grunge b-side from the 90s creating something that's new, visceral and exciting. Living The Dog sounds like a totally mental surf rock track filtered through the back catalogue of the Cramps while That Thing On His Face sounds like a controlled explosion of the early singles of Roxy Music. No-one, I repeat no-one, sounds like this in 2011. No-one sounds this unhinged, this raw, this rock 'n roll.

This is the new sound better than the old sound.

Go Try

Man Contest by Pet Scenes

Living The Dog by Pet Scenes

MP3 - Pet Scenes - That Thing On His Face
This track is linked direct from the Pet Scenes Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

Pet Scenes - Myspace : Last.FM : Soundcloud

Go View

Pet Scenes
Man Contest

Pet Scenes
Living The Dog

Christ You Know It Ain't easy

City Kids Records
From: Christchurch, New Zealand

With the recent Japanese earthquake, Tsunami and nuclear meltdown it's easy to forget about Christchurch. Easy to forget what a difficult time it's been for Christchurch this year, a year that it is difficult to imagine and even more difficult to describe. Two earthquakes in two months, the latter of which destroyed most of the city centre would have broken the spirit of most cities of the world. But Christchurch is not like any other city, it has such spirit, such fortitude, such courage in the face of adversity.

Take local label City Kids who, despite losing their own home in the first quake, infiltrated one of the condemned buildings with a few microphones and recorded four local bands. How's that for spirit, how's that for fortitude, how's that for courage, and ok how's that for borderline stupidity? Tonight's post brings those four bands to the Devil's readers and is dedicated to all those who lost their lives in the quakes that literally shook Christchurch to it's very foundations?

Gigglepop

It may seem perverse to start with a band that have recently disbanded but don't worry there is method in my madness. I'm hoping that they may reconsider when they realise that there are people who love their raucous Buzzcockian lo-fi pop racket.

Go Try

MP3 - Gigglepop - Teenage Things
This track is published with the permission of City Kids Records so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

Gigglepop - Myspace : Facebook : Bandcamp

Go View

Gigglepop

La Nuit Est Pour Des Amoureux

Sleeping With Students

Fuzzy garage pop that sounds like a recently unearthed original artyfact from the first psychedelic era.

Go Try

MP3 - Sleeping With Students - Strange Boys
This track is published with the permission of City Kids Records so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

Sleeping With Students - Myspace : Bandcamp

Devotion

Slacker rock in a Velvets glove.

Go Try

MP3 - Devotion - Thank You For Coming After Me
This track is published with the permission of City Kids Records so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

Devotion - Bandcamp

Villain

Glummer than glum rock, kinda like a cooler, lo-fi antipodean Crash Test Dummies.

Go Try

MP3 - Villain - French Kids
This track is published with the permission of City Kids Records so please don't claim breach of copyright

Go Visit

Villain - Myspace : Bandcamp

Elbow Room

Dresden
From: Prestwich, North Manchester, United Kingdom

With a name like Dresden from Manchester I was expecting a sound cloned from the DNA of Joy Division. Listening to tracks like Annihilation and Enough Is Never Good Enough, which could have been carved from a template supplied by Elbow, my initial suspicions of glum rock fellow travellers seemed to be confirmed. What I wasn't expecting was the upbeat 'Scars' a song seemingly sculpted from the same clay that The Human League used to create 'Dare'.

Go Try

Scars by Dresden Music

Enough Is Never Good Enough by Dresden Music

Go Visit

Dresden - Website : Soundcloud

Go Visit

Dresden
Annihilation

With Friends Like These

Friends
From: Brooklyn, New York, United States

New York, Friends and not a coffee shop in site.

No the Devil hasn't given up reviewing music for a life as a TV critic these New Yorkers are an ice pop band from Brooklyn. They're apparently bosom buddies of Darwin Deez but please don't let that put you off. They are also the most difficult band to find on Myspace. Try googling them. Every Myspace page in the world includes the word friends!!!!

The Devil has fallen in love with Friend Crush , an instant classic with a chorus that sticks to your brain like industrial strength super glue. Underneath it's cute exterior beats a desperate and slightly sinister heart. If you don't fall in love with it then I'll show my arse in Central Perk.

These New York friends are firmly stuck in first gear.

Go Try

Friends - Friend Crush by rockfeedback

Go Visit

Friends - Myspace

Video Killed The Radio Star 20th March 2011

Here are the videos that caught the Devil's eye this week...

Everything Everything
Final Form



Miniature Dinosaurs
Fight or Flight



Wolf Gang
Dancing With The Devil (featuring Kyla La Grange)



Braids
Plath Heart



PJ Harvey
The Glorious Land



American Werewolf Academy
The Hop



NewVillager
LightHouse



Flats
Never Again

The Devil's Round Up 20th March 2011

This weeks round up of the tracks that I haven't had the space to post...

Wildlife
From: London, United Kingdom

Urgent indie with a psych twist. Why can't all music be this good.

Go Try

dont expect (rough vocal mix) by wildlife-band

Twiggy Frostbite
From: Gävle, Gävleborgs län, Sweden

Simply beautiful. 'Written Within' is the soundtrack to a perfect dream. If only music like this could rise up and sweep the conveyor belt R&B and carbon copy boy bands from the iPods of the world.

Go Try

MP3 - Twiggy Frostbite - Written Within
This track is published with the permission of Despotz Records so please don't claim breach of copyright

Snorkel
From: London, United Kingdom


Electro-aquatic-kraut-afro-funk-sonic-experimentation what more do you need?

Go Try

Snorkel - Stop Machine by slowfoot

Diamond Doves
From: New York, United States

The Flaming Lips with added horns? Is there any hope they ask. With a track like this then the only answer is yes.

Go Try

Diamond Doves - Is There Any Hope? by flatiron


Left Step Band
From: London, United Kingdom


The Specials AKA with a hip hop twist.

Go Try

Rebels Of The Frontline - Left Step Band by Left Step Band

Brooklyn Horseman
From: Surry Hills, Australia

Dreamy pop from a mysterious Australian band who may not even exist. Their only presence on the internet seems to be a Soundcloud page with just the one track.

Go Try

Monsters by brooklynhorseman

Killed By 9V Batteries
From: Graz, Austria


The sound of Japandroids falling into a heap at the bottom of Sub Pop's stairs circa 1988.

Go Try

Killed By 9V Batteries - Impulse Control by Siluh Records

The Looks
From: Dublin, Ireland


Alt pop that soars high above the indie landfill. It's a Bloc Party and you're all invited.

Go Try

The Looks - Screwdriver by TheLooks

Lifes A Riot

SLUTEVER

From: Philadelphia, United States

Best friends Nicole and Rachel got together through a shared love of grunge and 50s girl groups to form SLUTEVER the brash and sleazy granddaughter of riot grrrl. Last year's self released debut EP 'Sorry I'm Not Sorry' was an explosive, bratty, smart, angry punch to the solar plexus that left you out of breath and gagging for more.

Their new 7-incher 'Pretend To Be Nice', out on Bantic Media on March 29, is just as loud, just as bratty, just as raw as their debut with more sass than a Barbie Doll convention.

Go Try

SLUTEVER - No Offense by BANTIC MEDIA

Go Visit

SLUTEVER - Facebook : Last.FM : Bandcamp : Blog

Go View

SLUTEVER
Teen Mom & Pussycat

Newcastle United

In a clear demonstration of the power of karma something is stirring on Tyneside. After losing their local hero Andy Carroll to the Devil's team Liverpool the lord is repaying the city with a music scene that is premiership quality. Already this year I've featured three brilliant bands from the Newcastle area (The Longsands, Mausi and Grandfather Birds) and there are so many more that you could create a whole blog dedicated just to the Newcastle scene.

With all this evidence pointing to a renaissance on the Tyne the Devil decided to scratch the surface of the Geordie scene to uncover the bands that are leading the push to the promised land.

Mammal Club

Mammal Club combine the odd harmonies of Geordie scene forefathers The Futureheads with Arcade Fire like bombast and shoegazey guitar histrionics. It's an almost religious experience.

Go Try

Put Your Fears In Order by Mammal Club

Holy Mammoth

Holy Mammoth are yet another band from Newcastle who are making a bid for the premier league with a strong back three and a big voiced man at the front.

Go Try

Eat by Holy Mammoth

Little Comets

Little Comets are the Vampire Weekend it's ok to like.

Go Try

Little Comets - Joanna by Mud Hut Digital

Pilots

Herky-jerky math pop with more harmonies than a Bee Gees impersonation competition.

Go Try

Pilots - White Knuckle Tight Grip by luke-pilots

Tomahawks for Targets

Another great grandson of The Futureheads which twitches and jerks like a marionette with a nervous disorder.

Go Try

The Total Collapse Of It All by Tomahawks For Targets

Vinyl Jacket

More skittery art pop from the Newcastle skittery art pop conveyor belt.

Go Try

His Delicate Brain (PREORDER NOW) by vinyljacketuk

The Mephisto Club

Where their peers are all upbeat herky-jerky relatives of an unholy communion between The Futureheads and XTC The Mephisto Club are gloomier, more trad indie without a multi layered harmony in sight.

Go Try

The Puppet by themephistoclub

Let's Buy Happiness

Tender indie that recalls the Sundays at the peak of their powers.

Go Try

Devil Show (acoustic) by letsbuyhappiness

Polarsets

The point at which European trance and English indie meets

Go Try

Polarsets - Sunshine Eyes by partisanpr