Supersweet

2 March 2009

 

It Hugs Back

Now + Again

Label: 4AD

'Now + Again' is so gentle, it's almost like a new kind of silence. If you played this as loud as you could, you'd sleep through anything, and have dreams about being nothing. It could make you forget to eat. It could probably stop wars. Through enough decibels this wall of virtually nothing at all could stop a planet. You wll feel like an addict when in the seconds after 'Both Arms' is over, the slow drag of foxglove guitar and Orphic vocals suddenly become all you can think about. And by then you are a nothing but a wisp. - Benjamin Pester

 

 

1877

Narcolepsy

Label: Dead Pilot

Like a Joy Division-Kraftwerk test tube baby, 1877 rebirths eighties melancholy in a clean, disruptive package. Released through dead pilot records, the namesake single, ‘I am an Antagonist’ fuses hollow vocals drilling lyrics “no future…we have” with brilliant crisp electronics and fading guitar. Yet ironically, B-side “Narcolepsy” wakes 1877 into their own, away from the shadow of their musical ancestors. 1877 paces the prolonging bass and rapid percussion with synthetic grace; their gloomy mediation of waking up “every day” rekindles our tangs for irresponsible adolescence. - Gemma Dempster

 

 

Morton Valence

Falling Down the Stairs

Label: Bastard Recordings

Immediately attention-grabbing in its stylish simplicity, ‘Falling Down The Stairs’ is a horrifically trendy slice of coy electro pop-rock from Morton Valence, a band who hail from Gloucestershire of all places. Based on a catchy, chugging rock riff  and an intimate, breathy female vocal, it deploys its fashionable 80s trimmings in all the right places, flirting with a whiff of Talking Heads before going completely Gary Numan at the end. We love it. - Isaac Howlett

 

 

 

Herman Dune

Try To Think About Me (Don't Worry A Bit)

Label: City Slang

This stress-busting slice of anti-folk loveliness from the late John Peel’s favourites Herman Dune is the musical equivalent of a warm hug. A toe-tapping groove courtesy of some horse-hoof style bongos, brass, a catchy sing-along chorus and a bit of what sounds like musical saw thrown in for good measure have made this a firm favourite with their fans and a great starting point for anyone unfamiliar with this offbeat and innovative band. - Isaac Howlett

 

 

 

Two Door Cinema Club

Something Good Can Work

Label: N/A

TDCC are simply sycophantic and brazen within their approach to music if ‘Something Good Can Work’ is anything to go by. For their approach is somewhat subservient to the dirty disco floor: short, sharp and brilliantly mellifluous to the tone. They've managed to wash the elemental sun-soaked hooks of The Beach Boys with modish caucasian electronic in order to produce something simply euphonious to the senses, and proving happiness can be found in flourishing harmony.

Think Broken Social Scene does cascading electro-pop, and you’ve almost pigeon-holed the essence of what makes this so endearing and disposable to popular culture. - Thomas Ward

 

Casiokids

Fot I Hose

Label: Moshi Moshi

Straddling the metaphorical line between avant-garde, spooky guitars and classic club hooks, this three minute wonder from Norwegian band Casiokids is as good as indie club gold already. There’s something about the alternation between the playful, yet slightly haunting, guitar lines and the bumping, stuttering synths that really makes you want to flail and jerk limbs for hours. It really shouldn’t work, this odd matching of styles, but the fact that it does suggests a set of pretty unhinged minds and a lot more gold dust to come. - Gavin Williams

 

 

9 March 2009

 

Kap Bambino

Red Sign

Label: alt<delete

Kicking in with a blast of icky, fuzzy noise, before descending into a wrestling match between Suicide and Les Georges Leningrad with Poly Styrene as referee, 'Red Sign' has one of the best intros of any song for a long time. Kap Bambino are the white hot epitome of everything that French electro should be; incoherent shouts, dirty, foul sounding synthesisers and the kind of unrelenting, deviant bassline that would make Devo proud. Urgent and compelling, go and find it. - Steve Gislam

 

 

 

thecocknbullkid

I’m Sorry

Label: Moshi Moshi

Synths and beats feature heavily on the latest thecocknbullkid release and both tracks take the heavy 80’s influences currently swamping music and combine it with the lazy rapping style of M.I.A. 'I’m Sorry' is much more dance-influenced and actually weaker than the B-side. The disturbingly titled 'There’s a Mother in Our Bed' with its social recognisable lyrics touches brilliantly on the tension filled relationships caused by the dreaded mother-in-law, although the calls to see her in a grave may be a bit harsh. - Chris Ebbs

 

 

16 March 2009

 

Gang Gang Dance

First Communion

Label: Warp

Ethereal, airy and awkward, ‘First Communion’ comes across like watching Kate Bush perform with !!! at a squat party on an asteroid somewhere in the far reaches of a distant galaxy. Beings of all forms and colours that you can’t even see dance and writhe in ways that you can’t make out against the enormous backdrop of outer space. Stars blur into units of light and it all makes sense; Gang Gang Dance are a truly special band. Primal and urgent, they tap onto a seemingly limitless sound supply and keep on tweaking. - Steve Gislam

 

 

Brontosaurus Chorus

You’ve Created A Monster

Label: PopArt London

The London mini army that is Brontosaurus Chorus start their ep/mini album with 'Love is The Path To Self Destruction' - a song which builds with dark stabs of violin and vocals alternating between singers Matthew Curtis and Jodie Lowther. Unfortunately, the furious, intense break out the song hints at is never quite reached. Instead, an overly poppy chorus is revealed- sounding like a duet between Patrick Wolf and a Disney princess- which tends to grate rather than carry you away. - Gavin Williams

 

 

 

VETO

Built To Fail

Label: Essential Music

Kicking off with a blast of dirty synths, the likes of which The Faint would be proud of, ‘Built To Fail’ is noisy, urgent and a bit other-worldly. The vocals do become very Klaxons-esque at one point and it is a fairly direct comparison. That does not however take away from the fact that ‘Built To Fail’ is utterly compelling and shows great promise for the band’s future. - Steve Gislam

 

 

 

Micachu

Lips

Label: Rough Trade

While Micachu and The Shapes are off gallivanting with Patrick Wolf on tour, upcoming single ‘Lips’ is a tasty treat left in the wake sneakily to keep recent debut album Jewellery ringing in keen ears. Only 80 seconds long, the high pitched musings of Mica’s miniature electric guitar spins out the echoes of a skipping rusty 12 inch. With lip-smacking texturizing the short-lived single, B-side ‘Curly Teeth’ zaps with laser synth teasing out the beastly chorus. Yet best heard live, hopefully the band doesn’t follow the lead in releasing these tamed versions. - Gemma Dempster

 

 

23 March 2009

 

Video Nasties

Jellybean

Label: Dead Again

In a world where hundreds, if not thousands, of bands exist and dominate the musical landscape, it’s hard to see where Video Nasties' own brand of skuzzy guitars and distorted vocals will make any kind of impact. The London quintets newest single 'Jellybean' isn’t a bad song, in fact it’s actually quite good. It’s catchy and infectious but the problem is it does nothing to stand out from an already big crowd, unless you count bands singing about sweets that is. - Chris Ebbs

 

 

 

Animal Collective

My Girls

Label: Domino

Write a song about how you're not material but want "…four walls and adobe slates for my girls". Seriously. Not every song has to be about taking drugs, getting in fights and dancing the night away, be all domestic. Back it with a blissed-out track full of slow claps, 'ooh' noises and a big old bleepy machine. It'll be brilliant, the whole freak folk thing will go down a storm. Sorry, have I heard what by whom? Oh…Damn. - Matt Coxon

 

 

 

The Noisettes

Don't Upset the Rhythm

Label: Mercury/Universal

Bold and Beautiful, 'Don't Upset the Rhythm' is the first single off forthcoming album Wild Young Hearts. Disco and Soul executed in the noughtiest way possible this will be instantly familiar from extended play on the Mazda adverts. With enough energy to rock any boat, they somehow make old ingredients seem as fresh as the day they were crushed. Hugely danceable, horribly addictive, and here to stay, watch out for this London-based trio over the coming months. - Matt Coxon

 

 

 

Dananananaykroyd

Black Wax

Label: Best Before

Ignore the fact that Dananananaykroyd have a name that perfectly straddles the line between the sublime and the ridiculous, and you will find that this Glaswegian six-piece are a bit more than just a good pun. ‘Black Wax’ builds from its Orange Juice meets Black Kids jangle to a full-frontal wall of guitars and shouts, courtesy of singer Calum Gunn’s crazed vocal style. With its fabulous background “woooo’s” and happy handclapping it can’t help but put a smile on your face. - Steve Gislam

 

 

 

Peter Bjorn and John

Nothing to Worry About

Label: Wichita

They’ve sped up their voices to sound like school children? Or are they actually sampled school children? They sing/shout in playground voices, “We’ve got nothing to worry about!”

It’s an amazingly catchy sped-up voice/children voice single with a hippo-wide bass walk and some summery hip-hop niceties. Scandinavianest hip-hop child-voice dance music ever. Love it. - Benjamin Pester