Antiquarian book dealer, illustrator, singer, taxidermist.
READ MOREYour worst fears about ‘Nothing’ are probably right. The late-year, post-album extended-play sounds like the runoff of a few constructions that didn’t make the cut for ‘Dedication’.
It’s hard to fathom that British Sea Power now have five albums under their belts.
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Tokyo Police Club
Champ
[Memphis Industries]9/10
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Tokyo Police Club decamped from their native Toronto to Los Angeles specifically to record a summer record, and this, their third long-player, is the result. And what a glorious blast of sunshine-inflected pop it is. ‘Wait Up (Boots of Danger)’ has as sweet and simple a chorus as you’ll hear all year, ‘Big Difference’ is drenched with the kind of power pop that Weezer wish they still wrote, and ‘Favourite Colour’’s gorgeous drawl makes you wonder why Pavement even bothered reforming. Sure, every sensible synapse in your head will tell you that ‘Champ’ is derivative indie-pop with little new to offer, but over the course of its small but perfectly formed duration, it reveals itself as rather brilliant, life-affirming songcraft that is catchy, poignant and youthful. And if its merit is purely meteorological, may the sun shine long and bright.
By Sam Walton
Your worst fears about ‘Nothing’ are probably right. The late-year, post-album extended-play sounds like the runoff of a few constructions that didn’t make the cut for ‘Dedication’.
Milagres are a Brooklyn-based quintet fronted by a certain Kyle Wilson, whose soaring vocal style sits somewhere between Thom Yorke and Chris Keating of Yeasayer.
On first encounter, ‘Bad Dream Hotline’ is your standard emo-goth release – black on black cover art, tracks called things like ‘A Handsome Stranger Called Death’ and ‘Dance & Weep’.
‘Out of Sight, Out of Town’ is an album that concerns itself, in the main, with casual sex.
When LA Vampires first released ‘So Unreal’ on a limited vinyl run in 2010 it sold out in a flash, perhaps because of its superbly kitsch artwork by Spencer Longo.
Dan Mangan is a husky-voiced, melancholic Canadian singer-songwriter who does all the things you expect husky-voiced, melancholic Canadian singer-songwriters to do.
Favourite Sons is the most recent project of Ken Griffin, formerly of nineties outfits Rollerskate Skinny and Kid Silver.
Synth enthusiasts must have been veritably jumping with joy of late (would a synth enthusiast do that sort of thing?).
A long lasting member of the American garage rock scene since the late Eighties, Mark Sultan has cooked up a hotpot of a new album.
Some very big noises are being made in the mainstream press over this Swedish duo, and their calculated pop sensibilities go a long way to explaining that.
This week we’ve been listening to new music from The Proper Ornaments, The Weeknd, Electricity In Our Homes, Sunless ’97 and Ceremony [pictured].
LISTEN HEREDropping his iPhone was the best thing that ever happened to Reef Younis.
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