Cowtown 'Fear Of...' - Album Review

 

New album from Leeds based trio, out via Gringo Records 31st May

Made up of a born and raised three piece, Hilary Knott (keys/vocals), Jonathan Nash (guitars/vocals) and David Shields (drums); the band return with their first new record in eight years. They have always fallen back into each other, able to tour without much fanfare and yet be a great support band for those touring the northern settlements of England.

Nash is noted for being drummer of Hookworms which became Holodrum and Knott experimented with Basic Switches. And these bands DNA help ferment the DIY feel of Cowtown; the experimental fervour of Devo mixed with the punk-tastic tunes of White Denim.

Take for instant previous single, 'Can't Talk Now' which has the big chorus feel; or 'As Close To Town As I Like It' which takes Knott's measured vocals in unison with the melody. There are indie tunes here peppered with punchy works such as 'Total Engagement' or 'Thru Being Zuul' which provide that indie pop power that recalls Tokyo Police Club's apex.

 

There is a mixture of power and precision running throughout ending with the rousing 'Currently Unavailable' as the album's last track - yet this is a credit to a band that has worked the circuit for twenty years honing their craft, this is not a band but friends making music together winningly.

Lasting for that period of time in the underground scene, is reason enough to celebrate, yet to return with perhaps their best work and an album of positivity and jams to fill up any indie dancefloor is reason to be shouted from the rooftops.

Fear Of... is out from Gringo Records on 31st May 

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Lithics 'Tower of Age'

Hailing from Portland, Oregon; the third album from Lithics is out now from Trouble in Mind records

Reminiscent of other noted North East American bands from the Seattle and Portland areas, the band seem to have harnessed their driving guitar sound to create this sonic soundscape of invention and minimalism; hooks that revolve around circular motion you get the sense that this album is communicating a sense of disenchantment but also a wonder at this weirdness. 

Songs range from the incessant 'Beat Fall' to 'A Highly Textured Ceiling' which is at times short but stubby.  This album will either make you angry or you will find the rhythm to tap along to; they sound like a band who can jam but find the sound when they are cut loose from the strangulation of melody and would instead prefer to find their own way through the uncertainty.

An album which will have something for everyone ranging from lead single 'Hands' to the ear worm churning of 'Twisting Vine', this band has crafted an album to breakthrough.

Tower of Age is out now from Trouble in Mind records

My thanks to One Beat PR for the opportunity to review.

Katie Malco 'Failures'

The debut album by UK based singer-songwriter Katie Malco.

The much anticipated debut by Katie Malco, is released by 6131 records, and is both a personal soul-bearing record and an album about the power of connecting with relationships; marking this out as a record of this time and by this time.

The ten song album touches on subjects ranging from body image to anxiety to figuring out life, and during the prolonged period of self-isolation due to the ongoing global pandemic, Malco's work is more expressive of the individual in this changing world. For good or better, the world has changed but what about the lonely soul within it.

Take the track 'Fractures' a song where Malco comes to terms with becoming who she is supposed to be, in contrast to the world's expected view of her. She admits that she struggles with how people perceive her and embracing her true self as this introvert but gifted individual.

Starting with the fiery opening track 'Animal' Malco provides a bolt of bracing rock and roll showing her knack for a good riff and winning vocals while telling a story about being looked at and being unnerved.  Malco is writing as much about personal experience as well as universal themes for all women.

This is another remarkable album by a female singer-songwriter following in the footsteps this year of Margaret Glaspy and Jane Herships, seemingly the most appealing works of this year about identity and belonging are coming from women with a guitar. There is a power to this individual standing proud and saying look at me, this is me, take it or leave it.

The next track is the sumptuous 'Brooklyn', a gorgeous track about friendship and this place that will come between people with ambitions and those who are happy to settle where they are. Sometimes people have to spread their wings and leave the bosom of home, for others it is scary to leave that comfort of home.

On her bandcamp page it mentions she has toured with luminaries such as Bob Mould and I was struck at how her playing and sound is reminiscent of Mould in that the songs start of contemplative before becoming this roar of emotion and determination. If you have never heard of Bob Mould, check out his album 'District Line' which is a great forgotten album - raw emotion embues through that record.

One of the more unsung tracks of the album could well be 'September' a song that has a stand alone sound of defiance 'I don't care about you, you sure don't care about me' ringing out as the song reaches the crescendo.

In conclusion, this is an album of great intent, passion and fearlessness by a songwriter willing to bear their soul on a record.

Fractures is out from 6131 records on 5th June.

My thanks to OneBeatPR for the opportunity.

Doomshakalaka

The debut album from former Hot Club De Paris frontman Paul Rafferty via Moshi Moshi records

Rafferty has constructed a collection of ten songs that work as both a great piece of work but also a piece of archive material as he looks back on his life in and around music starting with the album opener 'One Last Saturday Night' a song he originally wrote in 2011 about the feeling of possibility and invincibility that would come with a weekend night out as he refers to.

 

‘James Asleep’ is one of those driving melodies reminiscent of other Liverpudlian bands with a jingle jangle guitar with a bassline to match. The bass may be a bit sombre but the prevailing mood is one of hope and happiness by the end.

Befittingly, the album is of this era, with tracks such as 'This Is War (And I'm So Bored)' about negative thought and having to cope with them in this difficult time for everyone and this is backed up by the final track of the album 'Black Balloons'.

As Rafferty states in an exclusive interview, the process of the album was to describe a tough time, an album that is as much for himself than for others, but the universal appeal of this work speaks large.

All in all this album is one of genuine passion, of recalling past glories not for yearning but for embracing those memories as a moment of expression and how it expresses you.

Doomshakalaka is out from Moshi Moshi Records on 5th June

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Spice 'All My Best Shit'

The new single release from Californian band, Spice, this is a rip-roaring piece of grungy, fast adrenaline rock.

This is a song as much about anger and how to express it compared to sitting upon your emotions. In this day and age of mental awareness and being expressive about feelings, this is a guitar-driven indie rock song seeking to be heard amidst this pandemic of epic proportions.

The single 'All My Best Shit' is released ahead of the self-titled album out on July 21st from DAIS records.

The album is a nine track 30-minute cut of sonic infusion sparking discussion about co-existing with spikes of loud and soft, short and long but yet full of sparky punch and authority in this world of unrest.

The group comprise of Ross Farrar (vocals) and Jake Casarotti (drums) from the band Ceremony, along with Cody Sullivan (bass), Ian Simpson (guitar) and Victoria Skudlarek (violin) the band have honed a sound from the Bay Area pedigree full of modernity and anthemic yearning.

Spice is out from DAIS records on July 21st

En Attendant Ana 'Juillet'

Second album by Parisian quintet released by Trouble in Mind on 24th January

En Attendant Ana is a five-piece from Paris, France who are quietly making waves and gathering further acclaim through muso circles, and the difficult second album shows a broadening of the ambition shown in the debut album Lost and Found from 2018.

Trouble in Mind are releasing the second album also, and it marks the a band going through transition after the addition of guitarist, Maxence Tomasso.  Recorded by Vincent Hivert and Alexis Fugain over the course of one week in isolation in rural France.

Songs on Juillet are ones of hope despite the melancholic tone with triumphant trumpets swelling amid the lyrics of accepting loss but towards a new found sense of self and indepence.

The songs may be about the end of something, yet the beginning of another era - these songs are more focused than the first album, more hooks garner greater attention.

The band admit listening to more shoegazing, dream pop from across the spectrum including the likes of Cocteau Twins, Stereolab, Cate Le Bon and The Breeders; yet the band the album made this listener recall most fondly was the debut album of The Maccabees - a band of joyous infectiousness who could craft a winning tune and perhaps also Bombay Bicycle Club who themselves released a new album last week.

Both those bands share the same line of best fit with En Attendant Ana - a soulful band who want to sing about love, loss and dreams - playing with a lilt and float fitting for a summer sojourn.

This album is already one of the best listens of 2020 thus far, an album full of joy and unbridled ambition that could easily crossover from a niche of European to become an indie staple.

Juillet is released by Trouble In Mind on 24th January worldwide.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.