SNEAKPEEK hail from Echo Park, California and the four-pieces' sound sits somewhere between dream-pop beauty and grungy, garage-rock sludge.
Singer Dora Hiller quotes My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins amongst her main influences and it's certainly apparent on their early demos. "Way Too Much" is a hazy ride swathed in reverb, like a shoegaze number slowed down ten times over. Heavy, fuzzy basslines at the forefront and a gorgeous wash of Dora's languid but gorgeous, melodic vocals.
"Western Sky" plays over distorted, scuzzy guitar riffs, a perfect summers evening track for helping you wash down a few cans of lager whilst having a BBQ with close friends, not the whole town though, they aren't going to appreciate it. The live demo "Walk All Over Me" is equally impressive, droning slabs of maelstrom guitar, it's slightly heavier than the studio stuff and the vocals more aggressive. The signs are all there, SNEAKPEEK are on the verge of something.
Speaking of which, the band are planning on self releasing a seven track EP at the end of the summer. I am waiting!
The ABC Club are from Leeds, a five piece who make some rather enjoyable 'proper' indie-pop music, whilst some people think NME might have helped pioneer the downfall of guitar music by heralding fodder such as Brother (Viva) and giving Pete Doherty, Liam Gallagher and co complete support despite them surfing up unlistenable shit time after time. It does however, still have some good reviewers and plenty of people with their ears to the ground capable of find a decent band or two (even ones with guitars).
They (NME) picked up on The ABC Club for their (generally) impressive Radar section in September last year describing them pretty accurately too, "the quintet deal in powdery pouting, angular guitar lines and sprightly hooks". A listen to "Thieving Magpie" sees you greeted by surging pacing from jangly guitars, driven drums and a fantastic vocal from singer Zandra Kleivens, it soars and wails in extraordinary fashion. "Friend of Mine" chimes along in similar vein, gorgeous melodies, if guitar music is to get some of it's popularity back, then The ABC Club will be perfectly placed to take up the mantle of one of the best new guitar bands.
Whilst I'm on the topic I'm going to put my cards on the table and say that I think guitar music is anything but dead anyhow, I'm not the head of EMI so I don't really care about record sales, I care about music quality and The Joy Formidable lead the way for me there are plenty of fantastic bands out there. I've featured numerous already (Let's Buy Happiness, The Strange Death of Liberal England, Echo Lake etc etc.) and there are an increasing number of bands coming through too who'll be featured again, Spotlight Kid, Hold Kiss Kill, Veronica Falls. I could go on.
I've been accused of going to this club a few times over the years... this Deaf Club however are a new band from Wales / London (reading tells me they are fronted by Polly Mackey of PM & The Pleasure Principle).
They released their debut EP online a few months back and have quietly been picking up some praise from BBC's Jen Long amongst others, drawing comparisons with Beach House / PJ Harvey and more, though I'm not actually sure if those are completely on the mark myself.
Entitled 'Lull EP', you can download it for free via bandcamp, you should probably do that as it's stunning. Kicking off with "Hana", you are greeted by dramatic, strong and intelligent indie-rock. Expansive soundscapes created through soaring intensity, melodious guitars hooks, precise drums and a rich vocal that purrs and soars in equal measures.
"Postcard" is my favourite, at seven minutes in duration it's an lengthy journey and one well worth taking, the picture of the EP sums up the track perfectly, a hazy, lazy day, with the sun seeping through the clouds. "Postcard" has a forlorn atmosphere yet manages to be so, so beautiful, the heartbreaking vocals are soothing and melancholic. The drums managing to sound perfectly down-beat, yet the guitar shimmers gently in the background. Then there is that guitar outro, epic.
The signs are there that Deaf Club will be band you'll be hearing much more from in the future.
Whilst not strictly a new band Pinkshinyultrablast from St. Petersburg, Russia formed in 2007 and released an EP in mid 2009 have been relatively quiet until recently by setting up an on-line presence with a the creation of a Facebook / Soundcloud page, one can hope that it's a sign that they four-piece are gearing up to release a follow up, at the very least it's given me a catalyst for this post.
The debut EP 'Happy Songs for Happy Zombies' showcases an exhilarating shoegaze / punk-rock sound, trademark fuzzed-up guitars and dreamy female vocals. The EP kicks off with "Blaster" which provides an intoxicating head rush of skittering drum crashes and wall upon wall of buzzing guitars, though underneath all the sonic dissonance it's the undeniably beautiful and melodic melodies that win you over.
The intensity rises up a notch higher with "Deerland" with its punkier, more urgent tempo. Aggressive, pummelling guitar and crashing, driving drums. Variation might be lacking over the four tracks, the juggernaut continues on "Honeybee" and "Ode to Godzilla", but who really cares when the sound is so fucking brilliant, so let your ears bleed with the relentless noise Pinkshinyultrablast have created, all played over this lush bed of gorgeous ethereal vocals that float airily over the maelstrom storm. Yummy.
Listen to this loud. You can download it from their bandcamp now, I think a limited CD run has all gone.
UK blogs have been stumbling over each other to post about this track for the past 36 hours or so, and with good reason too. Following their excellent demo tape London/Brighton based four piece Fear of Men are gearing up to their first vinyl release, 'Ritual Confession' is due for release on limited 7″ through Italian Beach Babes on 22 August.
It's a bloody excellent track, hooky guitars, a thudding drum beat and a catchy, melodic sound that is a sure fire summer pop hit for those of us who aren't rushing to purchase "Swagger Jagger". Backed with "Spirit House" which is even more charming and listenable, fuzzed-up pop delivered with a irresistible vocals and engaging style. Consider me hooked.
Fear of Men have a whole host of London dates coming up, the single launch on August 26th amongst them.
This will be my first Field Day, I was tempted to go last year but it was the day after my birthday and the lure of curry and beers in my home-town proved more than sufficient to keep me out of East London. Taking place at Victoria Park the line-up is pretty spectacular, if the weather cools down a little (yes I'm now moaning it is too hot after weeks of asking where our summer was) it promises to be a spectacular day.
Here's my suggested day plan, there are so many great bands that clashes are inevitable so I've adopted a policy of seeing bands I've not seen / seen less / won't be seeing again in the near future (sorry Echo Lake / 2:54 and more):
Since I last mentioned THoAP back in early June they've been Guardian New Band of the Day and released their debut single "You're So Cool", they'll open up proceedings at midday, so make sure you head down to Victoria Park early enough to catch their beautifully melodic, hazy summers day slabs of indie pop.
Finally, and I do mean finally, I'll be catching Anika live, I couldn't make her last two London shows and I'm extremely excited about the chance of seeing her perform tracks from her stunning self-titled debut. Her detached, dubby take of some classic tracks delivered with her nonchalant vocals and pulsating electronic throb gives an eerie, paranoid feeling, I love it. Yes I'm looking forward to Anika
Anika has recently announced a whole host of American dates, go and see her.
Connan Mockasin // Laneway Festival Stage // 13.50
I can't remember why but I missed Connan Mockasin at Primavera and will certainly try to correct that on Saturday. He has a distinctive, unique and undoubtedly strange style. I'm interested to see how his psychedelic / spaced-out / weirdo tracks translate on-stage, if nothing else it's going to be a little bit out there.
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti // Village Mentality Stage // 14.45
From one leftfield and creative artist to another, with Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti whose combination of 70's funk, hippy psychedelia and pop melodies provided one of last years most critically acclaimed albums and it should be an intriguing listen.
When Field Day was originally announced with the return of Electrelane at it's forefront a thousand indie-boy's had good dreams that night, I missed their sold-out Scala show, so this will be my first time catching them since their re-form.
Encompassing weaving guitar riffs, breezy vocals and swirling organ, Electrelane will be on stage showing why everyone got quite so excited when they announced the comeback. I cannot wait to here "The Valley" and "To The East" live.
Zola Jesus // Bloggers Delight/Lanzarote Stage // 16:50
One of the most annoying clashes mean I could well end up missing half ofthe Zola Jesus set (thankfully I'm due to see Nika at both End of the Road and her headlining London show in September), the introduction to her forthcoming album "Vessel" was simply incredible and I can't wait to hear the rest of 'Conatus'. One of the most striking voices in the industry and such a prolific and exceptional songstress. If this is your only chance to see ZJ, don't miss out.
Visions of Trees // Do You Come Here Often? Stage // 17:40
Visions of Trees released "Sometimes It Kills" back in February, a track I really like and probably should have blogged in its own right, after the initial hype in all honesty I forgot about the duo until I was looking through the Field Day schedule and saw their name.
I'll definitely go and check them out, the atmospheric, ethereal dreaminess of "Sometimes it Kills" should translate perfectly, some of their other tracks like "Sorrow" have a darker, late-night club feel - should be interesting in an East London park then!
Still Corners // Do You Come Here Often? Stage // 18:30
Still Corners aren't to be missed, the days until their debut pass by slowly but surely, it's going to be one of my favourite albums of the year without doubt. Everything the London based group have done so far has been to die for, from the kaleidoscope soundscapes of "History of Love" to the fleeting beauty of "Wish" and ambient, shimmering wash of "Cuckoo". To die for I tell you.
Warpaint appear to be at every festival I've been to this year, I think that says a lot for their intensive touring schedule since probably early last year. I've seen them eight times now I think and I'm anything but bored, I'll probably have to miss the first ten minutes walking from SC's but once I'm there I won't be moving for anybody. I don't need to explain who and what Warpaint are again but if you've been living in the mountains this past year, get ready for your jaw to hit the floor.
Veronica Falls // Do You Come Here Often? Stage // 21:00
One of my initial tips for 2011 spent the first half of the year in relative silence before announcing that they'd signed to Bella Union and were releasing their debut LP in September, it's going to be a cracker too.
This is what I said about them in December 2010 and it's stand's almost true today "Found Love in a Graveyard" is one of my songs of the year, it's a lovely little ramshackle of infectious and basically bloody brilliant indie pop and one song which sums up the mood of Veronica Falls very well. Fast paced, lyrically dark and to coin one of my most used lines on this blog; gorgeous ethereal vocals. "Starry Eyed" a jangly sugary-sweet pop song shows them in a slightly lighter frame of mind, but one equally good (impressive)."
Last but by no means least ending my day (unless I go to an after-show but after ten hours on my feet who knows how likely that is) will be Factory Floor, whose industrial sounds built around metronomic, hypnotic pulses are repetitive and utterly compelling.
