Song reviews

Untidy in execution and liberally decorated with an oversupply of grim undertones, “Doll/Torso”, which might be one song or two, shows that Yawning Dog can take the post punk baseball bat and use it to beat art-rock to a pulp. That’s a job that needed doing.

Oddly enough, “Bail” sounds less like the obscure electronica that it probably is than the kind of instrumental grooveathon that would have got the dance floors of France moving about a decade ago. This song is nonetheless strangely appealing to the ears.

Drinking deep from the well named English rock for their influences, Naked Sunday bravely attempt to throw some menace into “The Reaper” but barely manage to cover the fact that the song just isn’t big enough for them.

Downright brutal in its execution, “Something Right” bounces your skull of the wall with an assault of pushed to the limit male and female vocals and alternately kicked to the floor and pumped up with steroids guitar riffs. Bull in The Whisky Shop sound like they are either having a great time beating up their influences or they have mastered the art of musical irony. No matter what the truth is, I want to be in their band.

In a clear case of much ado about something, singer Anna Marcella gives deeper meaning to the lyrics “Lost” whilst her band comrades alternate between ambient doodling and post rock melancholy in support. A pleasing song yet somewhat directionless in its intent.

You can’t go far wrong with an aggressively tidy hard rock song and Eventual Fate put not a step wrong throughout “The Preacher”. There’s a pleasing theatricality to the vocals and that bodes well for this band from Stoke on Trent.

Surprisingly simple in construction but undeniably hypnotic, “Neptune” gives Luna Green the opportunity, once again, to charm the ears of the world with the kind of stripped out and super cool song that simply shines amongst the stars.

There was a time we exported our criminals to Australia but it would appear that now Australia are exporting their best musical thieves back to dear old Blighty. Goldie Thorn respray the eighties electro pop sound in shades of laconic lyrical indifference and nine carat gold until “Down Town Time” takes its robotic roots for a drink in the nightclub named surreal.

Robust and honest as the day is long, “Love Times Ten” gives JW Jones the opportunity to blues rock you all the way through Friday night and keep you company all the way into your Saturday morning hangover. A song best served with beer and a burger and plenty of that spicy guitar sauce.

“Standing On The Edge” provides enough evidence to suggest that Black Nevada are as manly as their muscled indie rock riffs suggest but the song itself does not give singer Jordan Bailey much to do beyond some spirited macho posturing.

“We Are Here” is the kind of song that you might expect of a singer songwriter wishing to express his sensitivity. Social isolation and group hugs feature in the lyrics yet neither song nor singer actually manage to convince.

Endearing yet clearly cool as an autumn breeze, Alma’s voice has that kind of fragility and casual timing that bears comparison with Randy Crawford and, with “Honey”, she successfully crosses the lyrical boundary between singer-songwriter and supper club jazz.