Cate Simpson

There’s a definite sense of gloom hanging over this fortnight’s bunch, particularly from the Glaswegians. Make Model prove that misery needn’t be without a sense of humour in ‘The Was’ (EMI) ••••, whose grungy cries of ‘Comatose stoned/Softening the blow’ are mocked by outbursts of ska. Q Without U provide an uncomplicated slice of misery-rock with ‘One Piece Puzzle’ (Hot! Guts! Records!) •• but total despair is quickly averted by the plinky-plonky electro sounds of Drive-by Argument’s rocky ‘Left, Left, Walk Forward, Get on the Dragon’ (Lizard King Records) •••, and Big Face’s ‘I Wanna Be a Style Crusador’ (Kitsune) •••.

Meanwhile in Edinburgh, nobody has told The Havex that sex isn’t shocking anymore. The monotonous and slightly obnoxious ‘Don’t Think About Sex’ (Kean Audio) • dares you to do just that, but it’s more likely you’ll be thinking that you’d better run to the bar before something good comes on.

But back to our scheduled gloom and angst. Lau (Reveal Records) ••• offer up mournful folky echoes of The Decemberists and, while they lack the same glorious weirdness, Lau’s haunting sound makes them more distinctive at least than DeVotchKa, whose ‘You Love Me’ (ANTI) ••• nods in The Decemberists’ general direction, while also evoking Radiohead’s whinier moments.

Some more situation-specific misery from Editors, who try to evoke the angst of having a ‘real’ job in ‘The Racing Rats’ (Kitchenware) •• and largely fail to convince us they’ve ever done anything more spiritually taxing than croon their way through this melodramatic high-energy nonsense. Simon Breed however succeeds in capturing 9-to-5 angst almost too perfectly in ‘Finish My Book’ (Re-Action Recordings) ••••, an ode to the escape of burying yourself in a book on the morning commute while life ticks drearily past you.

Amid all this desolation, Single of the fortnight is nabbed by Bloc Party’s distinctly ungloomy ‘Flux’ (Wichita Recordings) ••••• coupling their signature urgency with a thumping new bassline. The kids might not like the crazy electro sounds and vocoder distortion, weirdly reminiscent of that Cher song, but this explosive, frantic anthem might just have them dancing in spite of themselves.

(Original article)

Exaltation of Larks **
Cooking Vinyl

This album is nice. It’s nice to have on in the background, and it’s nice to fall asleep to. In fact, the latter is hard not to do as Dot Allison’s tender vocals wash over you, evoking Sarah McLachlan without the melodrama. While the album’s appeal is its simplicity, more variation between tracks would help distinguish them from one another. Instead, it is like a country train ride: drifting from one song to the next, the album takes you on a journey that is pleasant but unmemorable, with too few landmarks to keep you interested along the way.

(Original article)

Good Arrows ***
Full Time Hobby

Citing influences from Icelandic prog rock to choral music and film soundtracks, Tunng’s third album is a musical playground of varied sounds. Stand-out track ‘Bullets’ is a simple catchy pop number. ‘Hands’ and ‘King’ are gently beautiful songs, echoing Sufjan Stevens’ plinky-plonkly backdrops, and the chilled-out electronica of Air and Hot Chip. There is an experimental feel to the synthy instrumental ‘Soup’ (followed pleasingly by ‘Spoons’), and the tracks are punctuated by ambient sound and unusual percussion. But while these toys are fun, they are sometimes a needless distraction from songwriting that is strong enough to stand on its own.

(Original article)