Song reviews

Richard Mailey has undoubtedly a bit of style. “Silk” is lyrically clever like Ricky Ross on a roll whilst bringing more than a bit of self loathing into the mix. “The Sandman”, on the other hand, takes a wee walk into Tom Waits territory both in words and in style.  Curiously, Mr Mailey’s voice tends towards a gruff affectation on both songs even though I’m sure that he could actually sound like himself if he wanted to.

I’m surprised that this band hasn’t come to my attention before now but they could well be new to the scene in Glasgow. OK, so they are hauling out retro influences like Wire and the Monochrome Set but both songs here (“Hailey” and “Locust”), although rambling, never actually stumble and more than usual care has gone into making the songs sound interesting. Memo to brain – must track them down.

You can easily guess that Mass Chemistry is an American rock band. Only America makes rock bands like this and you can hear that this band are aiming themselves at the stadium market with both  “Shadow” and “You Know” ticking all the boxes needed to make that journey. That said, it would have been nice if the guitarist had worked a bit harder at sounding like himself rather than taking the easy route and sounding like just another sideman.

I have a somewhat vague recollection of hearing this band and this song before but no matter as “Good Morning Lassitude” is a nice, laidback example of inoffensive alt folk. It would go well with summer sunshine and a nice picnic. It would go less well with a Subaru. Basically, it’s a lack of aggression thing.

The indie rock onslaught continues with “Colour Of My Mind” being a spirited if ultimately uninspired take on what has been done before by so many.  It would have been easy to write this band off if that had been all there was but “Song For The Underclass” showed another side to them. At a more relaxed pace, Freedom of the City even squeezed much in the way of punch into the down to earth lyrics. The potential is there but it is an each way bet at the moment as to their chances.

Oh dear, more victims of the Glasgow indie rock disease. The Dots have all the symptoms – one trick pony guitarist, a drummer that seems to be playing in a different band and a vocalist doing a weak impersonation of Liam Gallagher. Remarkably, “All You Need is Vulgarity” beats the four minute mark and “Last Horse” coughs and splutters to a halt at no less than five and a half minutes.  They clearly don’t know when to quit.

Another case of retro being the new black but who really cares when you get neat, subtly psychedelic, melodies like The Ambersons have on offer with the smoke gets in your eyes and makes you happy “Lazy Winter Wednesday” or, with a nod to both Ray Davies and the Chinn/Chapman hit machine, the mellow metaphorical charms of “The Housecat”. Old style pop music, if you like.

These two songs are easy on the ear with genre prerequisites like jangly stringed instruments, gravelly lead vocals and tight harmonies all present and correct. It is also true that “And It Feels Like” is a bit too generic but “New Day Rising” strikes a blow for the band’s individuality. So much so that I feel the need to check if Wiltshire is actually in the good old USA.

I remember the Ten To Five Project as being a band who successfully walked a fine line between dry humour and tweeness. “Healers” from this new band - formed from what once was the Ten To Five Project – makes out like a homogenised version of the Ten to Five Project sound while “The Lost Ones” sounds quirky enough to be a Ten To Five Project song (which is a good thing, by the way). Wonder why they used a different name?

“Spanish Robots” is a bit derivative but at least Sweet Relief sound like they are having fun doing their thing even if, from their performance, I have a suspicion that they used to be a covers band. “Miserable One”, on the other hand, shows more post punk attitude and indeed intelligence than you would expect of a Scottish indie band these days. Not without potential then.

Two tasty slices of powerpop from this Texas singer/songwriter that echo the likes of Apples in Stereo or late sixties psych pop, only grunged up a bit. “Tattoo” fits that groove exactly while “Vivian” is rather fluffier  in comparison being closer to the likes of peak period Marshall Crenshaw. I suppose that you could say that Sean Russell keeps to old fashioned values in his music with verses, choruses and melody and that makes perfect sense to me.

Another sensitive singer songwriter but this time from Liverpool.  Lloyd Rock’s voice suits his intense, melancholic songs well but, in performance terms, both songs are let down by a certain lack of drama. However, these are demos and with a bit of editing – the curiously named “Envy Verses Pitty” aimlessly exceeds 7 minutes! – and a decent (strings, anyone?) arrangement, both songs could do the business for this bedsit troubadour.