Song reviews

“Be My Friend” is the kind of splendidly energetic yet completely unpretentious song that used to grow everywhere in the USA (except shopping malls, of course) during the eighties. It might well be an old fashioned approach but Braggers have no problem getting their point across.

An odd name for a band but The Gaa Gaas put more than enough fury into their frenetic song “Close Your Eyes” to take it safely across the border from indie rock territory into the evergreen pastures that is, and always will be, post punk. The art school crowd will love this one.

The Burning Hell undoubtedly have an ear for poetry and their wry lyrics add the hot sauce to their somewhat frenetic power pop song “Men Without Hats”. One for my baby and one for the road, as they say.

“Number One” is an oddly compelling reflection on the attraction of fame from New York’s Maude Latour. It’s one of those urban style songs that ends up meaning more than the sum of its parts which is an achievement in itself.

“Thrills” might well sound like the work of just another devotee of robot powered urban r ’n’ b but closer examination of the lyrics shows that Sizzy Rocket actually has something to say.

Eminently tasteful, as you would expect of a song that features a real harp, “No Mercy in the Night” is all the evidence you need that Natalie Lurie is a classy performer. Even your Auntie Flo will like this one.

Earnest to the point of being serious, Gillian Nicola sounds like a singer songwriter with a message and, even though she does not stray far from the norm, “Oh Marie” demonstrates that she is a performer of some maturity.

Up-tempo and robust enough to survive the festival circuit, “Happy To Groove With You” is what might be called a song for summer and Evan Taylor Jones sounds like the kind of guy that would bring the sunshine with him.

Noa Milan, from South Africa it would seem, has a distinctive voice and she uses it to make the most of “From My Heart of You” with the end result being a clear case of the singer making the song.

“Cold Shoulder” might well be downbeat and somewhat old fashioned in style but Glasgow’s Barbary Coast have got what it takes to get the song into second gear and out on to the highway with extra credit due to Craig Rodger for treating the lyrics like they were Shakespeare.

Although from Canada, Second Rate Brain’s frenetic song “Animal Thoughts” sounds more like the kind of band that you might have heard on American college radio in the eighties. The guitar, as you might expect, leads the song into battle.

Like some spectre, Sheila K Cameron sings from the ether and her song “Goodbye Baby Blues” moves from nowhere to somewhere with the kind of spiritual precision more akin to the French chanson style while the multiple tempo shifts subtly suggest underlying torment.