Supersweet

7 April 2008

Semifinalists

Odd Situation

Label: Young & Lost Club

Focussing on the fear-filled shift from friendship to relationship, Semifinalists sound here like a cross between Hot Chip and Patrick Wolf. Yes, this is indie with a capital E (for electronic bleepy loveliness). With the follow-up to their self-titled debut due out later this summer, this is a taster that is worth checking out. - Matt Coxon

Black Kids

I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

Label: Almost Gold 

There’s been much talk of late about Black Kids throughout the music press, and the new single ‘I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You’ is their fanfare song to indiedom. Guaranteed to be a hit on every sticky dancefloor from London to Glasgow, it’s breezy, airy pop of the kind that The Cure made in their happier moments. Chantey, fun it’s the perfect song to get us all in the mood for summer. - Steve Gislam

14 April 2008

Esser

I Love You

Label: Merok

Love eh, it’s a funny old thing. Being in love is addictive, it gets under your skin, it’s all you can think about, you want to buy it chocolates and caress it. A great pop song also shares the same characteristics, much like the new single from Esser, well except for the buying it chocolates and caressing it bit. ‘I Love You’ showcases Ben Esser’s knack for writing catchy and hypnotic pop, and his love sick Essex drawl brings to mind Damon Albarn at his best. - Will Holloway

Goldfrapp

Happiness

Label: Mute

Oh Goldfrapp. You used to be too cool for the likes of us. You didn’t just play music that sounded different; you played music that seemed to come from a totally alien frequency altogether. You announced that your third album was going to be more-folk-less-electric, we umm’ed and ahhh’ed, and secretly prayed that the result might somehow manage to stand astride that acoustic-dance gulf.

Instead, what they’ve hawked out with ‘Happiness’ sounds like the backing music from a Galaxy chocolate advert grown self-aware. Unless you’re the kind of person who shops for a matching vegetable steamer to go with your fondue set, then this will seem crushingly plain. Insipidly tepid. - Hugh Platt

The Presets

This Boy’s In Love

Label: Moduar

Having ubiquitously toured their debut album Beams since its formidable release in late 2005, The Presets’ synergy of exultant future pagan house and electro-pop helped to liberate an unholy union of Clubland pilgrims with guile.

“This Boy’s In Love” is the second single to be taken from the Sydney-based duo’s forthcoming album Apocalypso, denoting another hallmark for the purveyors of the electronic genre. Transcendent blends of iridescent disco ball harmonies glisten cordially with radiant keys and emotive lyrics akin to the Eighties campness of Franky Goes To Hollywood and Pet Shop Boys facilitating a distilled hedonism of electro imagery. - Thomas Ward

21 April 2008

Envy Corps

Story Problem

Label: Vertigo

There are certain phrases in band blurbs which fill writers with fear, words like ‘challenging’ or ’atmospheric’. Unfortunately these are two words have been applied all too many times to Iowan band, The Envy Corps. Luckily for this reviewer then that their new single ‘Story Problem’ is an ace one. It lilts along in a manner reminiscent of Modest Mouse at their most jolly, and is rather pleasing on the ear. - Will Holloway

David Cronenberg's Wife

My Best Friend's Going Out With a Girl I Like

Label: Blang

Opening with scornful riffs complimented with the languid lament “My Best Friend’s Going Out With A Girl I Like”, who thought bitterness could be so refreshing. David Cronenberg’s Wife second single gloriously rejects any need for jovial tendencies, offering post-punk bareness with sly hooks and trickling guitars. Singer Tom Mayne oozes Larkin-esque lyrics, tapping into the ‘should have’ mentality to grasp the untouchable girl. The climactic statement "what comes between us?…his big fat cock" encapsulates DCW’s ruthless approach to unrequited love, connecting the childish resentment we enjoy and sinisterly smile about.  - Gemma Dempster

28 April 2008

We Are The Physics

You Can Do Athletics, BTW

Label: This Is Fake DIY

Keep your eyes firmly on This Is Fake DIY. Having grabbed Manda Rin and Duels, they are also delivering some impressive debuts with pop-punk attitude. Take, We Are The Physics. Top boys from Glasgow, this prelude to the album showcases a talent and attitude that has been wowing live audiences for a while now. With stop-start 100 mph action this is what the Futureheads should have sounded like. Oh and BTW, that’s By The Way. - Matt Coxon

Dawn Landes

Tired of this Life

Label: Fargo

This stripped down sumptuous track is the second to be taken off Landes' quietly successful debut album Fireproof and showcases her abilities for Alt.country, Americana sound perfectly. With such stripped down production and minimal musicianship this single allows Landes elegant voice and sensuous guitar playing to occupy your attention from anything else.

This is a single that will drag you from any situation and sit you gazing into nothing, taking you away from the stresses and problems of your day. - Chris Ebbs

Sonic Youth

SY7

Label: Sonic Youth / SYR

As experimental as anything else released on their SYR label, Sonic Youth’s ‘J’Accuse Ted Hughes’ is a throbbing, rolling thunderstorm of a track. Recorded live at ATP in 2000, what starts as a melodic jam session, slowly builds and builds and builds until the sheer force of sound seems it could rattle your fillings out. Kim Gordon’s stuttered vocals seem like a whispered protest up against the primal energy of the music.

‘Agnès B Musique’ is ghostlier, more delicate, almost gently optimistic. Make no mistake though – this is the American underground clearing its throat. Brace yourself for the forthcoming roar. – Hugh Platt