So you get two scoops this month which is just great isn’t it.
What have I been listening too? What’s hot and cool? Who should be on your new playlist?
Well I’m going to do a monthly blog or blogs of some of the finest so you can check them out. I’ll also do a playlist for you to enjoy. 2021 is all about the giving.
Here’s some more choice cuts from my inbox.
Emma & The Idles have decided to smash 2021 and this is the first new track from a promised busy year. Owe it to you is a Pop banger – Emmas vocals are superb and this track starts like a cross between Stevie Nicks Edge of Seventeen and Beth Ditto’s Heavy Cross. Its a soaring track with a chorus that will get you going oooh oooh oohing straight away. If this is what’s to come then you need to get very excited as Emma isn’t idling.
Another great female singer out there is Fiona from the band Gefahrgeist who set ears a flapping last year with their excellent debut single Graceless. Well they have followed this up with the haunting Nukular, which is about a nuclear explosion from the perspective of the man (had to be) that pushed the button. Now this may sound pretty dismal, but with Fiona’s angelic and soaring vocals, underpinned by sparse beats, cellos, synths from cohort Niall it really isn’t and its incredibly enjoyable and moving and again brings back this writers comparisons to Dot Alison and One Dove. I’ve got a feeling Gefahrgeist are going to blow up this year just as soon as we all learn to pronounce the name.
Upping the mood slightly and a band that as far as I can tell don’t even have a Twitter account (the shame) is Graham Hanlon and The Solid Bond. They sent me the best EPK pack I’ve seen in a while so I opened it like a box of chocolates (really bloody quick/fatso). Hold on (for better days) is the kind of uplifting soul record that you need at this time of year – echoing the likes of The Style Council, Northern Soul and other jazzy funky bands this is a really cool sound and would warm the ears of many Mods/Modettes/Groovers/Shakers out there. If you find them on twitter let me know but they can be found on IG the little scamps.
Adam Barrett is already known to a lot of you as the man with the silky voice and excellent cover versions, so much so that his version of God Only Knows by The Beach Boys was applauded by none other then Brian Wilson himself – you probably don’t get any better then that do you.
Well Adam is a songwriter in his own right and he sent me his new song Useless Paintings and I can tell you its not actually about my attempts to get on Take Hart (shame) but a beautiful song that highlights the best of Adam’s warm falsetto vocals and musical talent. “He can’t sleep when he turns out the light” is the main chorus and with its lilting style you really feel for him. The song actually reminds me of a Noel solo effort – in fact if old NG put this out everyone would be saying he was getting back to his best. Adam is clearly a great guy and solo performer, that is going to get more attention if he carries on with this level of quality.
I’ll this months Hot List then with another new band I’ve been checking out – Pulse Park, who have been compared to Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, Wire and early The Cure sounds interesting right! Well certainly for these ears so I had a good old listen via Soundcloud to their EP which includes an excellent song called The Equidistance which does indeed echo the sounds of above but probably a bit more easily to digest. An excellent guitar sound permeates throughout with whispered/dream pop vocals that suit the song well. It actually reminds me a bit of Pavement so that’s cool as well right. Apollonian Heart is another song of theirs and again its got a hook to it that transports you somewhere else – maybe it was the gin but I found it very therapeutic and trippy. I’ve got a feeling this band are going to appeal to a lot of indie purists.
So that’s Part 2 done…..well almost…I’ll do more on this but the Vela Incident boys sent me their new song and its a beautiful synth/guitar epic that is going to see the buzz about them increase further. More to follow……
Until then – be nice.
PNL
Michael
The Rebirth Of Cool 